The sample used for evaporative cooling system is Fabric defender 750 with Shelltite finish. From the experimental data and equations we have diffusion coefficient of 20.9 ± 3.71 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with one layer with 17%-20% fluctuations from the theory, 27.8 ± 4.5 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with two layers with 6%-14% fluctuations from the theory and 24.9 ± 4.1 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with three layers with 13%-16% fluctuations from the theory. Since the thickness of the fabric increases so the mass transport rate decreases so the mass transport resistance should be increases. The intrinsic mass resistances of Fabri-1L, Fabri-2L and Fabri-3L are respectively 104 ± 10.2 s/m, 154 ± 23 s/m and 206 ± 26 s/m from the experiment.

Numerical simulation is used to investigate the accuracy of a direct-contact device for measuring skin-surface temperature. A variation of thermal conductivity of the foam has greater effect on the error rather than a variation of the blood perfusion rate. For a thermal conductivity of zero, an error of 1.5 oC in temperature was identified. For foam pad conductivities of 0.03 and 0.06 W/m-oC, the errors are 0.5 and 0.15 oC. For the transient study, with k=0 W/m-oC, it takes 4,900 seconds for the temperature to reach steady state compared with k=0.03 W/m-oC and k=0.06 W/m-oC where it takes 3,000 seconds. The configuration without the foam and in presence of an air gap between the skin surface and the sensor gives the most uniform temperature profile.

This thesis is an experimental study of the fluidization of binary mixture in particulate flows. A fluidized bed with two distributors was built with water being used as carrying fluid. Three types of solid particles of nylon, glass and aluminum of the same size and different densities are used in the experiments. The wall effect on a single particle fluidization, the fluidization of binary mixture of large density difference (nylon and aluminum of density ratio of 0.42), and the fluidization of binary mixture of close density (glass and aluminum with density ratio of 0.91) were investigated. Also, the effect of distributors on mono-disperse and bi-disperse particle fluidization was investigated. Results show that the presence of narrow walls reduces the minimum fluidization velocity for a single particle by as much as nearly 40%. Also, in the case of binary mixture of close density particles, uniform mixing was easily achieved and no segregation was observed, but in the case of large density difference particles, there exists significant segregation and separation. At high velocity, the uniform distributor behaves like a transport bed. To achieve a full bed in the single jet, it requires 1.5 times velocity of the uniform distributor. This behavior determines …