Wearable Air Cooling System for Microclimate Regulation in Fire Protective Clothing
Severin Bernhart, Thomas Grah, Jannic Wälde, Mathias Schmoigl-Tonis, Andreas Salihovic, Otmar Schneider, Thomas Finkenzeller (2025): Wearable Air Cooling System for Microclimate Regulation in Fire Protective Clothing In: 7th International Conference on the Challenges, Opportunities, Innovations and Applications in Electronic Textiles (E-Textiles).
Heat stress poses a significant challenge for fire fighters, but it can be mitigated to some degree through cooling methods. A wearable air-cooling safety body network to be integrated into standardized fire brigade jackets for firefighting operations is introduced. The required air flow and pressure were investigated, a textile sensor data-driven cooling trigger algorithm was developed, and an air tube based cooling actuator system was integrated. A participant study was conducted to evaluate the developed prototypes to test physical and subjective cooling effectivity during live-fire trainings. The system significantly reduces upper body skin temperature (p=0.04) and enhances thermal comfort (p=0.002). The system shows strong resilience against extreme heat and effectively mitigates firefighter heat stress in critical situations.
Zertifiziert nach EN ISO 9001