How does phase change material really work?
22nd Sep 2013
September 22, 2013 at 8:55am
Its ACTUALLY PHYSICS! When anything changes its crystalline form solid to liquid to gas, energy is used up or released ,just like it takes us energy to walk up stairs. NASA developed it. After their patents ran out ( 30 years).. companies experimented with it and patented their own versions.. something like the internet. It is what the big thick walled space suits contained.
What I call the 'rough' form of phase change, is what most companies use exclusively.On our web site www.zentekclothing.com, you will see it in the #1 and #2 cold packs. It is made usually of a wax or a salt, that they can change the melting point. If you have one of these cold packs.. put it in the freezer to see how quickly
it freezes.Then watch it 'freeze'.. ( change phases) in the fridge. For military, fire, or construction work, they set it at 58 F. It will melt or freeze ( change phases) to stay at this temperature. Set this low, you can only use it in this form. You must give the wearer the ability to control, or hypothermia results . Now we are talking about surface temperatures of the body.. but if the body CORE is 95 F.. down from the usual 98.6 F, you have hypothermia. The whole body will shut down systematically to protect the body core. Imagine the strain on the heart!
I now understand this is why the scientists set our cloth at 83F. It is 20 degrees cooler for dogs.. and 22 degrees cooler for humans. At this temperature, the blood flow to the muscles is not compromised.
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