"The existing protective clothing used while performing physically demanding work in hot conditions can, in many cases, hinder workers' ability to remain cool," said Stefano Carosio of the Italian company D'Appolonia and manager of the Safe&Cool Project.

"Through this project, named Safe&Cool, we are developing a special protective material with a built-in cooling system based on the technology developed for the space suits used by astronauts on the International Space Station to prevent them from overheating when exposed to direct sunlight during space walks," Carosio added.

In Europe alone, the inability to shed excess heat and moisture through clothing results each year in more than 1,500 cases of heatstroke. The condition can be fatal, unless medical help is at hand. Even more common, but less serious, are cases of heat stress, which affects about 50,000 workers each year and increases the risk of injury at work due to loss of concentration.

Even at a temperature 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) workers wearing impermeable protective clothing can suffer heat stress when carrying out strenuous physical labor.

"Our objective, through the Safe&Cool project, is to develop a higher quality thermal and moisture management layer for protective clothing that complies with EU directives," said Agnieszka Kurchewska of the Polish Central Institute for Labor Protection, National Research Institute, also known as CIOP-PIB. "If used for protective clothing this new material will make the working environment safer and better through reducing the risk of heat stress and heatstrokes for those operating in what can be dangerous and often stressful jobs."

Conceived within ESA's Technology Transfer Program, Safe&Cool was developed by a consortium of six small and medium-sized enterprises from Italy, Belgium and Poland in cooperation with Italian Grado Zero Espace and Poland's CIOP-PIB, and coordinated by D'Appolonia.

The cooling apparatus, developed by Grado Zero Espace, already has been used successfully in clothing for Formula-1 McLaren mechanics and the Spanish Moto-GP driver, Sete Gibernau. Following a preliminary feasibility and concept validation study supported by ESA's Technology Transfer Program, the project received financial support from the EC under its CRAFT initiative to reach a pre-competitive stage of development.

The Safe&Cool system makes use of three special technologies. Firstly a special 3D-textile structure is used in the thermal and moisture management layer to replace the interliner and moisture barrier of classical three-layered protective clothing.

The materials used in the special 3D-textile structure are hydrophobic thermal comfort fibers to avoid a wet feeling when in contact with the body, combined with hydrophilic fibers to create suction channels to transport moisture away from the skin.

The second technology is the cooling apparatus derived from astronauts' suits. This enables liquid to be circulated through tubing inserted in cavities in the 3D-textile structure, creating the equivalent of blood vessels for heat removal. A water-binding polymer is the third technology and this will be added either as a coating or in the form of a powder dispersed inside the fabrics.

The polymer will absorb and bind excess moisture migrating through the semi-permeable membrane to maintain the temperature below a threshold controlled by the cooling apparatus. If there is a sudden temperature increase, arising from a burn flashover for example, and the cooling system cannot remove heat fast enough from the body, the polymer will release the liquid accumulated, reproducing the human natural sweating process through evaporative cooling.

"Producing protective suits based on the combination of these three technologies will increase the safety of those carrying out tasks in dangerous environments," said Pierre Brisson, head of ESA's Technology Transfer and Promotion Office. "This is another good example of how advanced technologies and concepts already developed for space - in this case to protect our astronauts - can provide innovative and advantageous solutions for people on Earth."

Although the immediate application for the Safe&Cool innovative thermal management system is to create clothing to protect those working in harsh environments, several other promising applications have been identified by the consortium, including use in sportswear and transportation.

The Polish company TAPS, which is part of the consortium, is already testing the industrial viability of inserting the system as heating or conditioning elements inside passenger seats in cars and public transport.

Related Links
Safe&Cool
CIOP-PIB
D'appolonia
Grado Zero Espace
ESA

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News