The COCOON project will develop and demonstrate integrated seat climatization, ventilation and air supply system, maturing the technology bricks to TRL6 for a standard economy 3-seat row with a target weight of <1kg to achieve personalised comfort control and a 2% fuel saving through reduced thermal load at the cabin level.

Thermoelectric heating and cooling modules combined with a ventilation and air supply system will be controlled via a tablet or smartphone to provide advanced in-seat personalised microclimate control.

The project will leverage previous work by UTRC which developed an in-seat microclimate control module for the business jet market by adapting it to the economy sector. UTRC Ireland will work with UTAS GEC Poland to design, test and validate a prototype of the system which will be integrated into BE’s current economy 3-row seat configuration and tested at the BE facility in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland.