Smart Clothing for Cooling

As part of the STW project “Smart Clothing” we developed special water perfused open foam pads which ensure optimal cooling contact and are flexible and comfortable to use. In this prototype an external water supply and pump are needed to circulate the cooling fluid.

Tight wearable garment lined with cooling pads replaces the thermoregulatory mechanisms with conduction in hot environments. It also enhances performance of the wearer and postpones heat stress and exhaustion during exercise and uses external thermoelectric cooling to keep the cooling garment cold. The thermoelectric cooling is located in the boat behind the rower, functioning on a portable power source. The concept uses thermocouples to regulate the activity of cooling. 

Human motion can be utilized to provide the pumping pressure to circulate the cooling liquid. It can be used to heat as well when using thermoelectric cooling. Users have indicated feeling the entire upper body being cooled when wearing the prototype. Minor adjustments on the current system can open it up to a wider variety of target groups

Thermal imaging shows that when the system is active, cooling will spread throughout the pads covering the entire area of the pads. In little time the temperature can drop multiple degrees depending on the level of cooling supplied.

Student: Joshua Stewart (Graduated January 20^th, 2017)
Graduation team: 

• Prof. K.M.B. Jansen
• Bram de Smit