Project WWW

Timothy Yu 3S3 (25)

Wong Guan Jie 3S3 (27)
Zou Xiang Yu 3S3 (31)

Problem
Between January to December in India where temperatures average around 10–15 °C, the poor
and homeless people in India barely survive in the bitter cold with no more than a old dirty
blanket on their body and a sheet of cardboard as their refuge.

Task
We have to devise a method/object of insulation to help the poor beat the bitter winter.
The method/object of insulation should fulfill the following criteria:

1) designed for the usage of one person

2) design materials should be cheap and readily available for the poor.
(The poor cannot afford to be bringing along expensive materials. They wander around often
and their possession get stolen easily)

3) easy to keep and transport

(homeless people wander around and do not have a fixed place to call home)

Ideas
We roughly wrote down all our ideas at the start of the project and below are some examples of
them.

Fiberglass | Cellulose | Rotting Leaves | cotton | feathers of some sort | the gel that you see in
heating packs | A Vacuum | Aerogel | Sawdust | weeds | mud | Styrofoam boxes

However after analysis of all the ideas given, narrowed our idea down to sawdust, weeds and
mud. We decided to make a stuffable jacket for the poor which would allow then to add and
remove insulation as needed in the form of the materials listed above. A layer of mud can also
be applied onto the jacket. Furthermore, a bag can be strapped to the shirt/jacket in the chest
area where they can store their belongings.

As for the head, Styrofoam boxes can be tied into a shape of a box and worn on the head.

Materials
Jacket, an insulation material, plastic or cloth bag (should be durable), and Styrofoam boxes
Methodology
The jacket looks like an ordinary cotton jacket, but with tie-down straps on the front and back for
stuffing. Before wearing, the user simply opens these straps and stuffs available insulation
material into it. In places where mud is available, the user may choose to smear mud over the
inside of the jacket and allow it to dry before adding insulation. The straps are then retied to
keep the insulation secure. Belongings and, if necessary, additional insulation can be placed in
the front bag that has been strapped to the jacket frame. The Styrofoam boxes can be tied into
the shape of a head covering and worn there to reduce heat loss off the top of the head.

Convenience of our design

•When performing exercises, or doing strenuous jobs, the bag can be removed from the shirt
and carried. This prevents too much heat from staying in the body, which might be potentially
dangerous to the body. Similarly, if they feel that it is too cold, they can attach more bags and
insulation to the shirt. Such a bag is also not heavy, thus convenient for the poor to carry them
around. This user-controllability makes for an efficient all-weather garment.

•The jacket itself in only a frame for the user to adapt to his/her surroundings. Just about any
insulation material can be stuffed into the jacket, so the user is not limited or burdened by
having to lug around insulation all day. Anything in the surrounding environment that will provide
insulation can be used, not just the ones mentioned.

•Finally, Styrofoam boxes can also be found readily, and are almost always free. They are light
and allow for ventilation while at the same time reduce heat loss from the warm air around the
head. All our materials needed are commonly available at almost zero cost. The materials used
also allow flexibility to the wearer. They can customize according to their own preferences and
needs.

Physics behind our idea

•Firstly, mud is a poor conductor and radiator of heat energy. Mud contains water and soil
particles. The soil particles are poor conductors and radiators of heat, therefore when the mud
dries up, it is able to effectively reduce the amount of heat lost from the body than just the T-
shirt alone. Inside the mud, there also contains organic matters. When these organic matters
decompose, they tend to release heat energy. Inside the dried up mud, there will also be many
air spaces. As air is also a poor conductor of heat energy, it is able to effectively prevent heat
loss.

•Secondly, weed stuffing is also a poor conductor of heat and since there are usually air spaces
in between the weeds, the air can also act as an insulator of heat. Sometimes when the weed
decomposes, it is also able to release heat like the organic matter in the mud.

•Thirdly, belongings and additional insulation can be placed in the bag which is attached to the
shirt/ jacket at the chest area. These materials, usually papers and plastic bags among others,
are all poor conductors of heat; they are able to effectively reduce heat loss from body. The
body core can thus be effectively insulated. The crumpled pieces of paper and plastic bags also
contains air spaces, which further improves the ability of this strap-on bag to insulate against the
cold.

•Finally, the Styrofoam boxes are poor conductors of heat. They contain lots of air in them which
are poor conductors of heat. In such a cold weather, the head will be covered and insulated so
as to prevent heat loss. Hot air surrounding the head will also not be able to convect away as
easily, so a reasonable temperature around the head is maintained.

Calculation
Q T −T 2
Let it be known that for conduction, =kA 1
t l
where Q/t is heat lost, k the thermal conductivity of the medium, A the surface area, T the
temperatures of the two ends of conduction, and l the thickness of the medium.
Q 4 4
and for radiation, t =e  AT 1−T 2 

where Q/t is heat lost, e is the emissivity, σ is a constant of 5.67 x 10-8 W/m2K4, A the surface
area, and T the the temperatures of the two ends of radiation.
Note that body temperature is taken to be 31OC and outside temperature is taken to be -35OC.
The torso is taken to be a sphere of radius 0.35 m and the skull is taken to be a sphere of
radium 0.1m. Styrofoam is taken to have an emissivity of about 0.60
Body
2 304K−283K
Before: 10.0W /mK  4 0.35m  =46180W
0.02m

2 304K−283K
After: 5.00W /mK  4 0.35m  =11546W
0.04m

Head

−8 2 4 1 2 4 4
Before: 0.9756.7×10 W / m K  2 4 0.1m 304K −283K =74W

−8 2 4 1 2 4 4
After: 0.60 56.7×10 W / m K  2 4  0.1m 304K −283K =46W

Furthermore, the Styrofoam hat is able to prevent convection of air which reduce up to 50W of
heat loss.