Flexible Heat Flux Sensor for Firefighters Garment Integration

Abstract

The interest in using optimal equipment to face unknown hazards is growing, as it ultimately save lives. This holds especially true for fire-fighters which are confronted with other hazards during the course of operations. Improvement of their security by an integrated sensory clothing system was the main objective of the European project ProeTEX. In this context, the integration of commercial heat flux sensors into fire-fighters garment has proved the interest of such measurements. However, low flexibility and high cost remain major disadvantages of these sensors. The objective of this work is to develop an innovative heat flux sensor based on a low cost technology. Heat flux sensors have been realized using printable thermoelectric materials and present high sensitivity (146 mV/ (W/cm2)). Their flexibility is compatible with integration in clothes and three specific integrations are proposed and compared. Proof of concept of flexible heat flux sensor is also presented in this paper.