{"id":45690,"date":"2017-07-12T16:22:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T20:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=45690"},"modified":"2017-07-17T14:55:19","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T18:55:19","slug":"brock-researcher-company-to-develop-smart-personal-cooling-system-for-miners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/07\/brock-researcher-company-to-develop-smart-personal-cooling-system-for-miners\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock researcher, company to develop \u2018smart\u2019 personal cooling system for miners"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s like something out of a Star Trek episode: a suit that cools down when the person who wears it gets hot.<\/span><\/p>\n

But unlike a prop in the sci-fi show, research for this suit is happening now, and the place it will be worn is on Earth \u2014 or more specifically, far under the Earth\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

Brock University Professor of Kinesiology Stephen Cheung has partnered with Sudbury-based mining company Jannatec Technologies<\/a> to create a vest for miners with the technology to monitor and control body temperature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to develop a smart, personal cooling system miners can wear that will get feedback on their internal physiology,\u201d explains Cheung, who is a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Ergonomics.<\/p>\n

The vest is aimed at \u2018ultra-deep miners<\/a>,\u2019 workers who mine copper, nickel, tin and other minerals as far as three kilometres below the Earth\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

As a person moves deeper underground, rock temperatures can range from 40 up to 60 degrees Celsius. Added to that is high humidity generated from water needed to lubricate drill bits that results in what Cheung says is \u201cessentially a steam bath.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working in such hot, humid environments is not only uncomfortable, it can be dangerous.<\/p>\n

The human body regulates temperature by controlling skin-blood flow. When the body\u2019s core is hot, blood travelling through arteries and veins transports heat to the skin\u2019s surface, where it is released through sweat, evaporation, radiation and other processes.<\/p>\n

The cooled blood then returns to the body\u2019s core, reducing overall temperature.<\/p>\n

This process works best in air temperatures just below 30 degrees Celsius. The higher the air temperature, the more overwhelmed the body\u2019s systems become. Workers in hot environments<\/a> often experience heat stress that could lead to a variety of heat illnesses.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, core body temperature is measured using invasive methods, such as probes inserted in the esophagus or rectum to directly measure the internal temperature. But these methods are \u201cnot practical in the mining environment,\u201d explains Steffon Luoma, senior research scientist with Jannatec Technologies.<\/p>\n

Usually, it\u2019s up to the miners to determine how hot they are, taking breaks in air-conditioned rooms and vehicles to cool down, says Luoma. But they may not always realize the symptoms of heat illness until it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

Chueng says the goal is to \u201cdevelop a personalized cooling system that will adapt to how hard they\u2019re working, how hot it is, and what they\u2019re doing at the time to generate different levels of body heat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Non-invasive sensors will be built into the vest to record and monitor a variety of bodily activities such as heartrate and skin temperature. Sensors will also monitor air temperature and humidity levels,<\/p>\n

Signals from the sensors will activate a battery that will provide power needed to cool the body to certain levels through electronic modules.<\/p>\n

Part of the research involves refining the understanding of the human body\u2019s patterns of skin-blood flow, sweat, heat loss, core temperature and other physiological functions.<\/p>\n

And the research will be part psychological.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere may be preferred places to put the cooling modules,\u201d says Cheung. \u201cYou can have that same amount of cooling, but it will feel a lot better if it\u2019s, say, around your head and neck as opposed to it being around your torso and arms, even though physically it may be just as effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheung explains that the personal cooling systems on the market currently are limited in their cooling levels; essentially an \u201con-off switch or half on,\u201d not taking changes in body temperature or the intensity of body movements into account, he says.<\/p>\n

Jannatec Technologies is excited to be partnering with Cheung, says Luoma.<\/p>\n

\u201cStephen Cheung is one of the world\u2019s experts in human thermophysiology; he is a very unique resource,\u201d he says, adding that the innovations will increase safety and productivity in the mining industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the top expenses in a mine operation is ventilation, and part of ventilation is cooling,\u201d says Luoma. \u201cCooling the workers directly is more efficient than cooling an area and will lead to a decrease in costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luoma and his company also credit the Ontario Centres of Excellence and the Center of Excellence in Mining \u201cfor assisting Jannatec in achieving its goals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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