Protecting troops from heat stroke - Armed Forces

With members of the U.S. armed forces increasingly faced with the prospect of serving or fighting in nations that may have sweltering summer temperatures, a push is under way to create a personalized "cooling system" that could help prevent heat stroke. Toward that goal, Oregon State University, Corvallis, and the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Wash., researchers are attempting to develop an effective, lightweight, individual cooling unit using the latest concepts in microtechnology. When perfected, the new system should be of significant value to members of the armed forces, especially soldiers who might be exposed to chemical or biological weapons and must wear airtight protective clothing. In addition, it could assist other emergency personnel who have to work in extremely hot or confining situations--firefighters, people wearing fully protective outfits to respond to hazardous material spills, police wearing bulky bulletproof vests, and others.

"In a very hot climate, a soldier in full battle dress can get heat stroke in 10-20 minutes, and the effectiveness of fighting units can be dramatically reduced," explains Kevin Drost, a professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University. "For years, the military has wanted some type of individualized cooling system that service people could use in certain situations, but they were never able to develop something lightweight, versatile, and durable enough to be practical."

Special types of shirts already have been developed, Drost points out, that contain tubing through which coolants can be circulated and thereby reduce the heat overload on the body. However, any existing types of refrigeration units to cool these circulating liquids are far too heavy and must be run by large, bulky batteries. As an alternative, Oregon State and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists are planning to develop and perfect a very small, heat-actuated heat pump that uses diesel fuel to provide energy. The energy source for cooling is a small, compact combustion system' that could provide about 10,000 watts of energy per kilogram of fuel, far exceeding the performance of batteries. The entire energy plant and heat pump might weigh only three to four pounds and have the capability of cooling a person for several hours before refueling.

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