Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Personal Cooling Applications

Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Personal Cooling Applications

Teunissen, L.P.J. (TU Delft Emerging Materials; TU Delft Sustainable Design Engineering)
Janssen, E.S. (Student TU Delft)
Schootstra, J. (Student TU Delft)
Plaude, L. (TU Delft Emerging Materials; TU Delft Sustainable Design Engineering)
Jansen, K.M.B. (TU Delft Emerging Materials; TU Delft Sustainable Design Engineering)

Sustainable Design Engineering

2021

Eleven phase change materials (PCMs) for cooling humans in heat-stressed conditions were evaluated for their cooling characteristics. Effects of packaging material and segmentation were also investigated. Sample packs with a different type PCM (water- and oil-based PCMs, cooling gels, inorganic salts) or different packaging (aluminum, TPU, TPU + neoprene) were investigated on a hotplate. Cooling capacity, duration, and power were determined. Secondly, a PCM pack with hexagon compartments was compared to an unsegmented version with similar content. Cooling power decreased whereas cooling duration increased with increasing melting temperature. The water-based PCMs showed a >2x higher cooling power than other PCMs, but were relatively short-lived. The flexible gels and salts did not demonstrate a phase change plateau in cooling power, compromising their cooling potential. Using a TPU or aluminum packaging was indifferent. Adding neoprene considerably extended cooling duration, while decreasing power. Segmentation has practical benefits, but substantially lowered contact area and therefore cooling power.

cooling garment
cooling power
hotplate
PCM
phase change material

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:282e1bcb-b2cc-4a81-abf3-63d3f243e28b

https://doi.org/10.1177/0887302X211053007

0887-302X

Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 41 (3), 208-224

Accepted Author Manuscript

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 L.P.J. Teunissen, E.S. Janssen, J. Schootstra, L. Plaude, K.M.B. Jansen