## 5 Conclusions  
The conducted laboratory tests of systems consisting of the selected thermoelectric modules with heat sinks allow us to conclude that the analyzed factors such as the supply current, the ambient temperature, and the type of the heat sink have a significant impact on the amount of heat flux transferred by the TEC module, as well as on the required electric power. The studies have shown that increasing the TEC current increases the heat flux transferred by the module; however, this effect can only be observed up to a certain limit, beyond which the heat flux decreases due to the heat dissipation in the module itself. For most of the tested variants, the maximum current at which the recorded amount of heat flux was the highest was 0.25 A. This corresponded to a TEC voltage of 1.2 V at maximum, which was below the safety limit for salt-wet conditions of 7.2 V. The analysis of the influence of the ambient temperature on the heat flux showed that with increasing ambient temperature, and thus decreasing temperature difference between the heating plate and the environment, the heat flux decreased. Thus, the most favorable results were obtained at an ambient temperature of 20 \({}^{\circ}\)C, in which the heat flux value of even 2.5 W was obtained in the case of the EP variant. It should be noted, however, that under hot microclimate conditions, the ambient temperature will most often be 30 \({}^{\circ}\)C and higher. This means that under such conditions, the heat flux received by a single thermoelectric module should be expected to be from about 17 to 26 mW/cm\({}^{2}\). On the basis of the conducted research, a significant influence of the heat sink on the amount of heat received by the module was also found. The use of evaporation to collect heat from a thermoelectric module in the conditions of a hot microclimate gave a synergy effect, i.e., when the module was combined with a heat sink with evaporative cooling, a greater heat flux was obtainedthan from either element separately. The downside of this solution, however, is that an additional step, i.e., soaking the heat sink, is required to ensure the cooling function. As a result, in order to develop ergonomic and functional protective clothing with cooling capabilities ensuring thermal comfort of the worker, it is advisable to continue the search for an alternative solution that will ensure the amount of heat flux transferred by the module at a level similar to the heat sink using the evaporation effect but will not require additional involvement of the target user. Moreover, in further research, the influence of the TEC bending on its performance will be considered, including the thermal coupling between the TEC and the heat sink, as these factors may also have a significant effect on the utility value of a clothing with the cooling functionality.  
Conceptualization, A.D.; methodology, A.D., L.S. and B.P.; validation, A.D. and M.K.; formal analysis, A.D., M.K., L.S. and B.P.; investigation, A.D. and M.K.; resources, A.D.; data curation, A.D. and M.K.; writing--original draft preparation, A.D., M.K., L.S. and B.P.; writing--review and editing, A.D. and L.S.; visualization, M.K. and L.S.; supervision, A.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
The publication has been based on the results of Phase V of the National Program \"Improvement of safety and working conditions\" funded in the years 2020-2022 in the area of research and development works by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education/the National Centre for Research and Development. Programme coordinator: Central Institute for Labour Protection--National Research Institute.  
Not applicable.  
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.