Thermal comfort of the kitchen in pantry cars on Indian railways

Abstract

This paper mainly investigates the thermal comfort of the kitchen in pantry cars on Indian railways in two seasons (summer and winter) and two climatic zones (humid and subtropical climate zone and tropical wet and dry climate zone). A questionnaire survey on subjective feelings of thermal comfort was conducted among 69 chefs working in 14 kitchens of pantry cars on Indian railways. Their physical parameters of thermal comfort were also measured. Based on the survey results and measured data, the authors analyzed the comfort perception and thermal responses of the chefs in the kitchens, with the aid of indices like predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD). The results show that outdoor environmental parameters have an effect on indoor environmental parameters during the cooking; the maximum range of thermal comfort parameters was found at lunch and snack preparations, while the minimum was observed at breakfast; the PMV/PPD index method does not apply directly to the evaluation of thermal comfort in the kitchen in pantry cars on railways; the neutral temperature of chefs in summer and winter was 23°C and 21.62°C, respectively. These findings help to improve the indoor working environment of chefs on Indian railways.