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Computational Fluid Dynamics Model for a Closed Infant Incubator

Authors:
Aziza Hannouch
Vahe Mitilian
Mohamad Hajj-Hassan
Hassan Khachfe
Charbel Habchi

Keywords: CFD; biomedical engineering; Incubators; thermal comfort

Abstract:
Incubators are essential tools to provide thermal comfort for neonates. The main heat transfer processes in these systems are convection and thermal radiation. The objective of the present work is to analyze the flow structure and heat transfer processes using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The computational domain consists of a simplified incubator and neonate where two cases are considered. In the first case, the mattress was assumed adiabatic whereas in the second one the mattress is assumed to have a constant heat flux. Case one showed an excess of heat loss from the neonate by both convection and radiation, thus the neonate may suffer from hyperthermia and cold stress. This was solved by using a heat mattress with appropriate fixed heat flux in order to provide the desired thermal comfort.

Pages: 1 to 4

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2016

Publication date: October 9, 2016

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4553

ISBN: 978-1-61208-511-1

Location: Venice, Italy

Dates: from October 9, 2016 to October 13, 2016