A new approach to theoretical modeling of heat transfer through fibrous layers incorporated with microcapsules of phase change materials

•We represent a model for heat transfer through a fabric containing micro-PCM.•The phase change zone in the course of phase change process has been considered.•A variation function extracted from DSC results is applied to calculate the temperature dependent heat capacity of micro-PCM.•The model is applied to study the transient effect of PCM on skin temperature.•The model properly conforms to the real process and it is simple and friendly.

In this study, a new approach is proposed to represent a model for heat transfer through a fabric containing microcapsules of phase change materials (micro-PCM). It is observed that the phase change phenomenon occurs within a melting temperature zone where the temperature is not constant. Based on this fact, during phase change process, the heat capacity of fabric which is comprised of constant and temperature dependent elements is changed. A variation function extracted from DSC results is applied to calculate the temperature dependent heat capacity of fabric. The model is applied to study the transient effect of PCM on a simulated skin temperature system once subjected to abrupt changes in environmental conditions from warm to cold. The values of Tmean are 0 and 4.6 for sample without PCM and sample containing maximum PCM with nominal melting point of 28 °C, respectively. |GT| are 32.51 and 139.2 for corresponding samples. The model was further verified by the effect of PCMs existence and PCM type on the temperature response of simulated skin.