Body Heating System

This proposal is for the design and development of an auxiliary body heating system to be worn by soldiers operating in extremely cold environments. The design is based on circulating a fluid through a garment. Power for the pump is provided by a thermoelectric generator which simultaneously acts as the heat source for the pumped liquid. The thermoelectric generator is heated by a low-output catalytic propane burner. A unique advantage of using thermoelectrics for this application is that the electrical requirements for driving a low-capacity fluid pump are very small. Also, the heat energy normally wasted in a thermoelectric generator is now used to heat the liquid flowing through the garment. Thus, the overall efficiency of the system can be very high and only a small amount of fuel needs to be carried along to provide 4 hours of reliable and quiet body heating under the most severe conditions. The complete system, including fuel supply, power generator, and heat exchanger will be compact and lightweight, will require no batteries, and will be designed to fit in a backpack. Personal cooling and heating garments are already on the market for a range of applications in the military and commercial sectors. Most systems are for cooling of the body to prevent heat stress in hostile environments. There are no commercially available self-supporting body suits for warming applications. Outdoor construction and maintenance workers are potential users of the product.