Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2019-2020).

One occupation featuring continuous high levels of heat stress is ultra-deep mining, with the rock face atx000D
temperatures approaching 60°C and chamber temperatures commonly at 40°C with high humidity. Thus, evenx000D
moderate physical work can cause miners to quickly exceed existing occupational heat exposure guidelines andx000D
increase risk of heat illness. An extra risk is the prolonged transport to surface medical facilities. Beyond healthx000D
and safety concerns, productivity is reduced due to an inefficient work-rest regime. Further, the achievable orex000D
depths are limited by cautious heat stress management.x000D
Currently, the primary strategy for reducing thermal stress in ultra-deep mining is by cooling and ventilatingx000D
mine chambers, with the penalty of very high energy requirements and costs. A potential alternative forx000D
occupational cooling are individual personal cooling systems, where cooling is customized to the individual.x000D
Beyond improving worker health, this approach has the economic benefit of large energy savings throughx000D
reducing the need for wholesale cooling of large mining chambers.x000D
Jannatec Technologies, based in Sudbury ON, is developing a portable Active Cooling Vest to decrease the riskx000D
of heat stress for miners working at ultra-deep depths, with cooling intensity individualized based on ax000D
combination of environmental conditions, activity levels, and physiological feedback. The present proposalx000D
supports this target through developing a Heat Strain Estimator Algorithm (HSEA) to regulate the cooling ofx000D
this Active Cooling Vest. This will be accomplished by: 1) developing a model to predict core temperaturex000D
from heart rate and skin temperature; 2) developing the HSEA to predict overall heat production duringx000D
different mining tasks; 3) Incorporate and test the HSEA's ability to serve as a health warning system and tox000D
control a personal cooling system to reduce heat strain in the lab and during actual mining. The overall goal isx000D
to greatly reduce heat strain and increase productivity in ultra-deep mining.