In many types of industries (construction, metallurgy, mineral extraction, etc.), workers must deal with temperatures that exceed 30 °C and relative humidity levels above 75 %. These conditions induce significant thermal constraints which represent a brake on productivity, a danger for the health of workers, but also an impact on their safety that can lead to accidents at work. In order to mitigate it and create more comfortable and safe working conditions, portable cooling equipment, based on thermoelectric modules (TE), has been developed. The use of TE modules is based on the fact that they are compact, reliable, reversible and have no moving parts.
The cooling device (DR) is designed to minimize thermal resistance and weight, maximize cooling power without compromising the movement and ergonomic comfort. The device comprises an exchanger and a heat exchanger, between which are placed thermoelectric modules and an aerogel.
Thermoelectric cooling equipment (TCG) consists of two DR with identical paramedical gels connected by straps and having a total cooling power of 81 W for a temperature of 32 °C and relative humidity of 38 % to 85 %. These values correspond to more than 30 % of the metabolic expenditure of a miner under the extreme conditions prevailing in deep mines. The TCG's power supply is provided by two batteries of 6 V voltage and 5 Ah capacity, thus ensuring approximately 1-hour autonomy.
The TCG has a total mass of 3.6 kg and has undergone preliminary ergonomics and efficiency tests in anticipation of validation in real conditions. In addition, a risk analysis was conducted and led to mitigation measures to make the TCG safe. Other proposals for improvements have been made in order to achieve a smart TCG, by connecting it to a biometric vest and integrating it into an individual protective equipment.
| Date | 11 Nov 2019 |
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| Original language | French |
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| Awarding Institution | - École de technologie supérieure
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| Supervisor | Stéphane Hallé (Supervisor) |
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Mohellebi, H. (Author),
Hallé (Supervisor),
11 Nov 2019Student thesis: Master's thesis › Master in Engineering: Engineering