(620a) A Study of Thermal Management in Commercial Face Masks

The indisputable and widespread Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused tremendous social life changes. COVID-19 has expeditiously taken the lives of innocent individuals. Combined with social distancing and quintessential hygiene habits, facemasks can slow the coronavirus spread and protect wearers and the people around them. This project aims to study the thermal management of commercially available face masks using FLIR One thermal camera. The goal is to enhance the user's thermal comfort as heat generated from prolonged use causes fatigue, skin rash, and discomfort to an individual. In this experiment, a healthy young man volunteered to wear the masks and conduct the study on himself. Three commercially used masks, KN95, disposable masks, and reusable cloth masks were utilized in this experiment. The volunteer wore each mask for 15 minutes, and the thermal images were continuously captured using the FLIR One camera five feet apart. The breathing temperature in the masks was recorded as a function of time. The ambient temperature and humidity were also recorded at the time of the experiments. The Heat Flow Rate equation was used to find the heat transfer through each mask’s membranes. A gradual increase in temperature on the mask's surface was observed. The thermal images show that the KN95 has the best thermal management overtime. The morphology and chemical structure of the different layers of the mask were investigated using the Dino-lite premier and the Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) respectively. The rate of heat flow of the Non-surgical disposable masks is higher than its counterparts in comparison. Face masks with better thermal management will be helpful for prolonged use and enhance comfort. The future goal of this work is to study the effects of Stimuli-responsive polymer to advance thermal management of the ideal mask.

Keywords: Thermal management, thermal image, face mask, coronavirus.