Thermal comfort assessment of a pantry car coaches in Indian railway

This research article describes the outcomes of a thermal comfort survey conducted in railway pantry car coaches during the summer season in India. Data has been collected on six railway pantry car coaches in which 29 chefs participated. Physical measurement and subjective assessment techniques were used to estimate the thermal comfort conditions during meal preparation time; “breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner” inside the pantry car. A result of this research revealed that the maximum value of measured thermal comfort parameters likes; “air temperature” and “relative humidity” was found at lunch and snack preparation time. While minimum value of “air temperature” and “relative humidity” was recorded at breakfast time. Although entire cooking time measured value of “air temperature” and “relative humidity” did not comply the ASHRAE-55 and ISO-7730 standards. During the meal preparation chefs voted to perceive the “slightly warm to hot” and “Ok (Warm) to much too warm” for subjective response of TVS and TCV respectively. Pantry car chefs’ responses regarding the thermal environment do not follow the recommended ASHRAE-55 central three categories votes. These findings will help to understand the working situation of chefs during meal preparation inside the pantry car. In further the influence of outdoor environmental factors on indoor environmental factors during cooking time may lead to a better outcome.