The most elaborate travel-wear in Norway keeps the body cool in hot helicopter cabins, but will turn into a heat-retaining suit if the helicopter should fall into the sea. Now it is nominated for The Honours Award for Design Excellence 2008 by the Norwegian Design Council.
The new suit from Helly Hansen Pro, a Norwegian producer of textiles and special gear for sports and work on the ocean and in the mountainshas, has been jointly developed by SINTEF.Thanks to a cooperative project between these two partners offshore platform personnel on the Norwegian continental shelf have been issued with – literally – smart helicopter survival suits.These offshore workers are among the first people in the world who can go to work in clothes with built-in intelligence
Tests in SINTEF’s laboratory basin show that the smart helicopter survival suits offers good protection against loss of heat when the wearer is in the sea. Photo: SINTEF Health Research
Combined helicopter and survival suit
Ever since the “Oil Age” came to Norway, platform workers have been easily recognisable in the heliports at Norwegian airports as they troop out to waiting helicopters in bright orange suits that will keep them from either drowning or freezing to death in the event of an emergency landing or a helicopter crash-landing at sea.
Now this group of workers is in the process of putting on a new generation of colourful suits. Thanks to their special qualities, the garments can be used both during helicopter transport and as survival suits out on the platform.
Not satisfied with what was available
The smart suits were developed in response to new demands made on behalf of the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF).In 2000, OLF appointed a working group to define the properties that helicopter suits should have in the future to be approved for use during transport to and from Norwegian offshore oil-fields. This initiative was enthusiastically received by the trade unions involved. The working group documented that users were dissatisfied with several aspects of the suits then in use.
“Boiled alive”'
The offshore workers felt that they were being “boiled alive” in the helicopters on warm summer days. At the same time, they feared that the original suits did not offer complete protection against heat loss during long periods in cold seawater. The working group gained acceptance of their viewpoint that the helicopter suits must solve both of these problems in order to be approved. Norwegian scientists and industry people have now demonstrated that what seemed to be conflicting requirements for cooling and heat insulation can be met.
Protection against heat loss
At the same time, SINTEF have documented that the new suit offers good protection against loss of heat when the wearer is in the sea, because the paraffin wax releases the stored heat as it returns to the solid state, and because the suit contains extra insulation at the places where the body releases most heat.
Important for survival
The suit ensures that the skin temperature of the wearer never falls below 15 degrees anywhere on the body in the course of six hours in water at a temperature of two degrees Celsius.This ensures, for example, that helicopter passengers retain their ability to grasp things during long involuntary stays in the sea. Warm hands and feet also ensure that heat is evenly distributed to all parts of the body, which is important for survival and for the ability to make a contribution to one's own rescue.
Source: SINTEF and Norwegian Design Council.Fotos: SINTEF/Helly Hansen/Helge Eek