 Mission Possible - Cooling Down the Soldier in Body Armour
Prevent&Deloza show zero energy cooling for soldiers…
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| Picture 1: Jacket for ventilation |
Founded in 1954, the company has a long tradition in textiles. The core business was the production of accessories – safety strings, ribbons, lace, elastics; this was later followed by a range of protective clothing. The company has gathered a lot of knowledge and experience. In conjunction with key suppliers and scientific institutes on the one hand, and with the expectations of the users on the other, this is reflected in their products and offer.
Vision
The company has the knowledge and the latest technology for the development of ranges of protective clothes. Our vision is to become the leading producer of special solutions for cooling systems in Europe. We are a customer-oriented team of creative, motivated and responsible employees. With our knowledge and work, we create high-quality products and offer a professional and comprehensive service to our customers; the intention is to increase the share of innovative products with built-in knowledge and intelligent materials that bring even higher added value.
A soldier in a hot environment
Soldiers can work in extreme conditions, where different negative influences from the surrounding area act on them. Besides high temperatures above 30°C, there is also the possibility of fire, water, dust, mechanical loads, etc. One of the greatest problems occurs during thermal overload as the consequence of exposure to the weight of the equipment and the hours of activity. This means that when performing work in a warm environment, the temperature range of the human core (between 36°C and 38°C) as well as the temperature on the skin surface (between 20°C and 35°C) can change very quickly. Slight deviations from the normal condition are acceptable for short periods of time, however, long-term exposure to heat can have a negative impact. Dangerous situations, injuries and perhaps even death are possible; the reasons for which have often been studied.
Mostly, the soldiers’ uniforms do not ensure the optimal thermal balance which could prevent overheating. This area is still the subject of numerous researches. Progress continues towards passive and active cooling systems, optimizing the user-friendly and functional use in order to abolish the deficiencies, such as the reactivation of the cooling effect, unfriendly handling, difficult maintenance and use with other layers of the clothing system.
Active systems for cooling
One of the most often studied active systems for cooling is the jacket with an integral layer of a material, that provides a breathable layer in this product due to its structure. Through this breathable layer, air from the surrounding area is supplied to the micro environment of the clothing system. Air is supplied via two channels on the front and back in the amount of 70l/min. Wearing the product under layers of other clothes also increases the thermal insulation by approximately 21%. Based on research, it has also been established that the jacket would also be useful if a larger amount of air, up to 200l/min, was supplied for cooling. However, this is difficult to provide in field, as more energy is necessary for the air supply. The second improvement, which this product requires, is a supply of cool air, which is also not feasible at the moment.
Passive systems for cooling – by Prevent&Deloza
The passive systems for cooling down people, developed in cooperation with the army and the police at Prevent&Deloza especially for wearing under ballistic protection, are more suitable for use in the field. This type of solution is helpful for local cooling of the human body. Today, the most common systems for cooling on the market, are cooling systems that function by use of ice, salt and crystals.
The Prevent&Deloza system is composed of knitwear, that efficiently extracts heat and moisture from underneath the ballistic protection. Additional functional material provides the quickest evaporation of excess moisture and ensures an adequate extraction and storage of excessive heat. Already, the system manufactured in this way, substantially reduces the heat load on a person. By adding the evaporative part of the system, we ensure cooling of the person wearing ballistic protection, namely by an additional 3°C already after thirty minutes of activity.
Picture 2 and 3: FLIR picture of temperature before and after 30 min of activity in ballistic shirt (both TR SK1 ballistic standard)
From a functional perspective, in extremely hot environmental conditions, the simplest and the most efficient products are recommended, regarding handling, maintenance, mobility and reactivation of cooling. An example of such products are systems of material combinations, integrated into cooling shirts, under-helmet hoods, trouser legs and elbow pads. The cooling effect lasts for more than 12 hours of active use, then the product is simply soaked in water, and the effect of cooling is reactivated. This means that only cold water is required to use the product.
Such products not only help to maintain normal body temperature, but also protect the user from possible burn injuries.
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| Sample of cooling solutions |
Developed Solutions
Products for cooling will also be presented at this year’s largest military event, DSEI 2017 in London, England. Usage is recommended for the entire military personnel in different parts of the world, where soldiers are exposed to heat loads. We produce combat shirts, shirts with ballistic protection, ballistic vests, helmet inlays, etc.
Sample of cooling solutions
It is of course very important that the user is introduced to these products as well as the application methods and maintenance before using them in an extreme working environment. Knowing the functional operation of the systems in such equipment enables the users to help themselves and thereby prevent heat overload.
It is important to emphasize that the systems offered by Prevent&Deloza, do not require any energy or special maintenance protocol. The training for use takes less than 2 minutes.
For more information please visit:
www.prevent-deloza.si
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