Carbon Nanotube Fabric Cooling System for Firefighters and First Responders: Modeling and Simulation

Abstract

This study investigates carbon nanotube textiles as advanced personal protection equipment for firefighters and first responders. Carbon nanotubes are lightweight, flame resistant, and possess high mechanical and thermal properties. Carbon nanotubes are also thermally anisotropic, meaning they easily conduct heat along the axis of an individual tube, and are relatively insulating across the tube's diameter. By recognizing this anisotropic behavior, heat transfer through a layer of aligned carbon nanotubes in a garment can be partially redirected to a cold reservoir thereby protecting the wearer from heat stress and exhaustion. Finite element models were developed to simulate a carbon nanotube layer embedded in a firefighting garment and thermally connected to a cold reservoir. Simulation showed that under heat stress conditions, firefighter skin temperature was considerably reduced by the cooling layer.

Advanced Functional Materials for Intelligent Thermoregulation in Personal Protective Equipment

“…With the development of advanced materials and the progress made in the elaboration of conductive textiles, these types of concepts have also been exploited for the implementation of passive cooling strategies in textile structures [57,307,308]. Examples of recent work in this field are the creation of artificial leather with very high thermal conductivity by mixing silver-coated nylon yarns with polyester yarns in a laminated structure using a polyurethane and methyl cellulose resin [309], the design of thermally conductive fabric with hybrid conductive yarns made of polyester yarns combined with copper filaments in two different alignments [310], the development of thermoregulatory textiles based on thermally conductive composite fibers of highly aligned boron nitride/polyvinyl alcohol having been synthesized by 3D printing to take advantage of the in-plane thermal performance of boron nitride [311], and the numerical simulation using the finite element method of heat transfer concepts through an aligned carbon nanotube layer to be integrated between two layers of textiles to ensure partial heat redirection to a cold reservoir in the design of a firefighting garment [312].…”

Advanced Functional Materials for Intelligent Thermoregulation in Personal Protective Equipment

“…With the development of advanced materials and the progress made in the elaboration of conductive textiles, these types of concepts have also been exploited for the implementation of passive cooling strategies in textile structures [42], [286], [287]. The creation of artificial leather with very high thermal conductivity by mixing silver-coated nylon yarns with polyester yarns in a laminated structure using a polyurethane and methyl cellulose resin [288], the design of thermally conductive fabric with hybrid conductive yarns made of polyester yarns combined with copper filaments in 2 different alignments [289], the development of thermoregulatory textiles based on thermally conductive composite fibers of highly aligned boron nitride / polyvinyl alcohol having been synthesized by 3D printing to take advantage of the in-plane thermal performance of boron nitride [31], and the numerical simulation using the finite element method of heat transfer concepts through an aligned carbon nanotube layer to be integrated between two layers of textiles to ensure partial heat redirection to a cold reservoir in the design of a firefighting garment [290] are examples of recent work in this field. sweater could allow the development of a textile layer creating a multistage cooling effect [291].…”

Carbon Nanotube Sheet-Synthesis and Applications

“…The anisotropic heat conduction of CNT sheet, for example, makes it a promising candidate for firefighting applications. A smart garment concept was shown in a simulation to direct heat from the garment to an external cold sink, which lowered the temperature of the body [22]. Fire retardant properties of free-standing CNT sheets were also investigated and considered appropriate to prepare personal protective equipment (PPE) for firefighters [23].…”