Assessment of an active liquid cooling garment intended for use in a hot environment

This paper discusses the construction of a designed active liquid cooling garment (LCG) that has been developed in order to reduce thermal discomfort of persons working in hot environments. It consists of clothing with a tube system distributing a cooling liquid, a sensor measuring the microclimate under the clothing, and a portable cooling unit with a module controlling the temperature of the cooling liquid depending on the microclimate temperature under the clothing. The LCG was validated through tests on volunteers in a climatic chamber at 30 degrees C, a relative humidity of 40%, and an air movement rate of 0.4 m/s. The obtained test results confirmed the beneficial effects of the cooling system used on mean weighted skin temperature, the physical parameters of the microclimate under the clothing, and the participants' subjective assessments, as well as confirmed that the functioning of the control system regulating liquid temperature in the LCG was correct. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.