Australian scientists have invented a new "high-tech" vest to help keep soldiers and emergency workers alive in the searing temperatures of deserts, mines and major fires.
The vest uses a personal cooling system (PCS), jointly developed by the CSIRO and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO).
It is designed to be worn by military personnel underneath protective uniforms, by emergency services workers wearing protective clothing and by miners working underground.
Dr Pratish Bandopadhayay of CSIRO Thermal and Fluids Engineering says surrounding the body in protective clothing prevents cooling by normal sweat evaporation. This reduces the operational time protective clothing can be worn without greatly increasing the risk of injury.
"The PCS is based on new, patented heat pipe technology which works by collecting body heat through vapour filled cavities in a vest worn on the body. The heat is then transferred via a flexible heat pipe to the atmosphere with the help of an evaporative cooling heat exchanger," Bando says.
"The heat exchanger is similar in principle to a bush fridge where a cold cloth is put over a container and the temperature drop caused by evaporation keeps the food cool.
"This concept has been demonstrated in a series of experiments conducted by DSTO researchers in which thermal strain has been greatly minimised in soldiers exercising in simulated military operations," he says.
The PCS is expected to have major applications in fire-fighting, deep mining operations, hazardous chemical clean-ups in industrial operations in harsh environments and in military operations where high temperatures currently limit strenuous physical exertion to very short periods of time.
It has been launched for commercial development by the joint owners of the technology, the CSIRO and DSTO.
Commercialisation will be undertaken by Freehills Technology Services (FTS) in partnership with the Victorian state government, through its technology commercialisation program.
FTS will seek commercialisation partners with ownership rights remaining with the DSTO and CSIRO. FTS is a company within the international law firm Freehills.
