Research Projects

Heat-related illness, and specifically heatstroke, is a growing public health concern in India, where summer temperatures regularly reach 45°C, supplemented by high humidity and poor infrastructure in low-income Indian Homes. The populations are disproportionately at risk due to very little access to air conditioning, inferior ventilation, unstable electricity supply, and very tight budgetary limits. The project fills this urgent need by developing an energy-independent, cost-effective, PCM-based wearable cool vest with predictive heatstroke risk assessment, a new, scalable solution for at-risk Indian populations. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) provide passive thermal management through latent heat absorption during phase change, allowing cooling without a constant power supply. Yet, all but a few of the previous PCM cooling systems have been designed for working or controlled conditions and with minimal regard to the socio-economic, climatic, and behavioural context of poor Indian families. The current project puts forward an essentially new, integrated idea that combines multi-physics computational modelling, high-level experimental testing, and real-time physiological monitoring into an integrated system that can minimise heatstroke risk while promoting India's climate resilience and public health agenda. The study is organised in three interdependent work packages (WPs). WP1 uses high-level computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyse heat transfer and phase change and utilise the bio-heat thermoregulation models to model PCM formulations, vest geometry, and interface thermal performance for Indian summer conditions. WP2 develop innovative experimental setup using a biomimetic torso manikin with multi-zone heating, sweating simulation, and sensors within a climatic chamber. PCM-based vest prototypes will be designed and tested under different temperatures and humidities to verify simulation findings and check durability and performance. WP3 combines numerical and experimental data with a thermoregulation-behavioural prediction model that combines environmental data and human physiological responses to anticipate the core body temperature, estimate safe exposure times, and conduct real-time heatstroke risk assessments. Expected outcomes are: (i) experimentally verified multi-physics simulation platforms, (ii) operational PCM-based cooling vest systems with prolonged cooling in hot and humid conditions, (iii) coupled thermoregulation models incorporating physiological and behavioural adaptation, and (iv) field-deployable guidelines, toolkits, and policy in aligned with India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The project is expected to result in a greater than 50% reduction of the heatstroke risk and a greater than 25% enhancement in thermal comfort.

Heatstroke Prediction, PCM-Based Cooling Vest, Thermoregulation Modelling, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Passive Thermal Management, Low-Income Thermal Resilience