Reclaim Body Heat

I get the impression you are not from a truly cold climate?

You are correct.(Latitude 76)Does that mean that the device(s) exist, or that such a device will never work?

The same problem was encountered in the science fiction "Dune" they solved it by recirculating the water from "body outlet" to "body inlet" in special suits since the climate was very dry.

How about body heat,which is the subject of interest in this post?

Reclaiming the heat lost from your breath.

About 10% of your body heat is lost by respiration, according to this article. Not really a lot, but while outside in the winter 10% more heat would often times be a welcome visitor. I can understand your thinking.

Then there is, as mentioned, the pesky exhaled moisture to deal with. This is what makes the proposition pretty unworkable.

Sounds like someone else is miles ahead of me on thi s.This is exactly what I was thinking,but did not now how to implement.

Thanks for the feedback.

The fact that a gadget exists does not necessarily imply that it works (think magnets for softening hard water) or is useful. The water content of exhaled breath (saturated at 37 degrees C) is only 44 mg/l and at rest one only exhales 4-5 l/min. Assuming, though, that this device is to be used during activity, let us use a respiratory rate of 15 l/min. Again, assuming that dry air at -10 degrees is being breathed, and that one is being pretty active outside for 8 hours then the loss in that time is 15 kilocalories, which is irrelevant in the context of the 3000 kcal diet one would be consuming in those circumstances (food calories are kilocalories). It might be more pleasant to inhale less than freezing air, but the energy saving is negligible.
And for my next part-the sucker-from-his-money trick I shall design the head-band mounted super-bright-LED torch for night treks, powered by the movement of the knee joints. Anyone care to invest in my firm?

I predict that eventually, the human species will be custom modified for the particular environment that they will encounter.In a very cold climate, perhaps they will copy the penguins, and reroute the warm blood arteries in close contact with the cold veinous returning blood, and probably have a built in nano heat exchanger to preheat the incoming air to the lungs, using the exhaled air as a heat source.The heat captured by the condensation of the water vapor would be retrieved also for reuse,like a condensing boiler does now.Sure, there would be losses,but far less than now.

I also think they will solve the problem of muscle atrophy"use it or lose it" by genetic manipulation.Imagine!Staying at your peak physical condition without exercise.Silly! Impossible! Consider a cat.He lies around for months,but his reflexes stay sharp, and he stays strong.He is still fast enough to catch a mouse, and just as strong as ever.

They will crack the cat DNA code eventually, and splice into humans, where needed.

The aging genes are already revealing themselves, and they have created "eternal cells",in which the telemeres do not become shorter with each generation.These cell lines never die.

Then the problem of long space voyages will be resolved.No need for suspended animation.

This is a long ways from my original post,so I will save the rest of my prognostication for later.

You are aware that being alive is a exothermic reaction and some heat and water loss is absolutely to survive.

If you dress properly for the temperature and conditions at hand it is not necessary to be concerned about your breath or what little water loss it creates being that warm or cold we loose the same amount with every breath.

As far as capturing some of that moisture and heat that's what full face masks do very well.

I have no trouble at all staying out all night at work in -22 F winter weather with a -45 F and worse wind chill provided I am properly dressed for it. If anything when dressed for those conditions its rather normal that with any slight activity at all I start to get too hot and sweat under all that clothing and have to open up some to balance out the thermal gain opposed to prevent its loss.

Considering your location,I know it gets very cold there,and are basing your judgement on experience,which is worth a ton of theory.

I guess modern thermal clothing with synthetic fibers has made freezing to death a thing of the past.

Of course, there may still be a niche for heat exchanger masks, such as climbing Mt Everest, where every calorie counts,or special military missions, or Arctic or Antarctic residents, which require 5000 calories a day just for normal activities.

I suppose I should have researched extreme weather clothing before I posted this question.

Thanks to everyone for their contributions!

I have been trying to teach my wife how to dress properly for our worse winter weather being she is from Turkey and its amazing how hard it is to get someone to understand how cold - 22F with a good stiff wind can be! Lets just say she is slowly learning that a poofy dress jacket and socks under open toes shoes isn't dressing for winter here.

For comparison I weighed myself the other week with and without the full winter gear on. 255# in my undies and 288# fully dressed! The added weight is enough to just make normal low level movement just enough of a exertion to keep you warm unless you are laying dead still for long periods of time.

To give you an idea of what I put on here it is from the bottom up.

2 pairs of cotton socks.

size 14W 400 gram thinsulate leather work boots.

Double weave cotton long underwear.

Dickie's jeans.

1 sweat shirt.

1 hooded sweater.

Full body Carhart coveralls.

One insulated canvass Carhart jacket.

1 full neoprene head mask.

The sweater hood.

The Carhart jacket hood.

1 pair 150 gram thinsolate gloves.

1 pair of insulated leather gloves over the first pair.

I thought 5000 calories a day was normal?

You do the Michelin Tire Commercial?

Have you ever taken care of several 2 year old boys? Pillaging, plundering, and running amok is alive and well!

Space suit?

Just read a book on Everest climbing. And I often skied Vermont in -40 wind chill -10 temp.

Cutting the wind is a first priority, I used a face mask of chamois, Goggles, knee length down parka with hood (Northface), and military surplus glove shells over insulated ski gloves. Full length legging overpants with zippered sides. I also used Polyester undershirt

As noted by others, keeping control of overheating by quickly adjusting various items is essential.

The book on Everest 29,035 feet, made it clear that adequate oxygen is very important above 20,000 or 25,000, but temps often go -40 with 50 mph winds, god knows what the wind chill comes out to. Carrying the oxy bottles, and mask is essential for most climbers, but not all folks. Most years there are a few climbers that get to the top, and back down without using oxy, And then there are fatilities, often. And some folks have problems above 15,000 feet or even less.

My take from the book was that saving heat by better clothing is a lot better than trying to recapture moisture or exhaled heat.

Florida is pretty nice right now.

Some scuba regulator mouth pieces have small thin metal plates that act kind of like the regenerator on a stirling cycle engine and also limit the amount of moisture lost.

Why reinvent the wheel? You need a device which is lightweight, contains a heat exchanger, conserves moisture, and uses body heat and humidity to temper the outside air as it enters the body? BREATHE THROUGH YOUR NOSE!

The solution is right between your eyes!

I need something that captures the heat from my motorcycle exhaust and blows it up my pants legs. Snowmobile pants are too moisture retentive although they are certainly warm.

I know that some similar ideas were pursued in Germany about 80 years ago and probably in Russia around the time of the Great Purge.

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I haven't heard of the development of any ideas quite like yours where the exhaust is directed to the driver of the vehicle though. Almost kamakazish if you ask me.

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Do be careful, I'm not sure the Germans or Russians shared the goals as you probably have.

My old VW Beetle did just that! Heat fins were cast around the headers, a shroud around that, and then the engine fan forced air across the headers, and then along a pipe to the front of the car. Worked OK until the pipes rusted out. The header was ridiculous in cost.

I ride my bike in the summer - opposite problem, that engine is HOT.

I never had an air cooled VW that heated worth a D--- in really cold weather.There was not enough air flow to do any good.They sold aftermarket fans to boost the flow, but they only helped a little bit.Had to scrape the inside and outside of the windshield.

Had to use canned heat in back seat to defrost inside of windows!

COLD CAR!

High Maintenance!Valve adjust every 3000 miles,oil change too...no oil filter.6 Volt system hard to start.Had to install relay under back seat to boost voltage to starter solenoid.

In '66 12 volt system improved starting, but heat still inadequate.

Very good car for warm climate if you like doing your own maintenance.

Eventually, the head bolts will pull out of aluminum block, and the motor will have to be pulled to install helicoil adapters into the aluminum block,which changes your valve backlash settings.Firing order 1-4-3-2,but for adjusting valves, it is easier to rotate motor backwards, and adjust them 1-2-3-4,that way you don't have to alternate sides twice to adjust all valves.

They had lots of trouble with valve #3 running hot and dropping onto the piston.This was because the oil cooler was in the air-flow path to #3 cylinder and blocked some of the air from the cylinder and head.

Plenty of dune buggies out there still running,but they do require dedicated maintenance.

It seems feasible that a heat exchanger could be incorporated into the exhaust system,isolating the exhaust form the heat, and using the air from forward momentum to force the warm air wherever you needed it.An auxiliary fan of course could be added for circulation when not moving.

I believe they have electrically heated motorcycle suits for cold climates.At least parts are heated,like gloves,socks, etc.

My Dad made a lot of money buying smoking Corvairs whose rubber O-rings on the pushrod tubes hardened up allowing crankcase oil to drip onto the exhaust manifold which was surrounded by the heater intake ducts and thus filling up the car with billowing blue smoke.

He would buy 75 cents of new O-rings and make me or my brother loosen the heads enough to drop the pushrod tubes, install new O-rings and tighten back down the head bolts. Voila! 1000% profit!