Self-heating inflatable lifejacket using gas generating agent as energy source

Abstract

Cold is an important cause of the death of people who fall into the water. The use of a gas generating agent to inflate an inflatable lifejacket is a kind of self-heating inflatable lifejacket, which maintains the inflation effect and portability of the original lifejacket and can also play an auxiliary heating effect. In this paper, a nitrogen-rich substance, 5-aminotetrazole 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazole (5ATNTZ) was synthesized, together with the selected oxidant and binder to complete the preparation of the gas generating agent. Commercial life jackets were selected for inflation test to explore the actual dosage and inflation effect of gas generating agent. The experimental results show that when the amount of gas generating agent is 19 g, the amount of physical coolant is 20 g, and the amount of chemical coolant is 7 g, the lifejacket is inflated and its surface temperature reaches at least 40.3 °C. The energy utilization efficiency reaches 75.17% when the chemical energy of the gas generating agent is converted into the heat of the bag and inflation work in the whole inflation process. Therefore, the gas-filled lifejacket using a gas generating agent has a good auxiliary heat effect, and is a type of self-heating inflatable lifejacket with excellent performance, which has great application value.