Durability of Firefighters' Protective Clothing to Heat and Light

1988 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Day ◽  
J. D. Cooney ◽  
T. Suprunchuk
Keyword(s):  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Heat Exposure ◽  
Outer Shell ◽  
Thermal Shrinkage ◽  
Flame Resistance ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
Protective Performance ◽  
Tearing Strength

Fabrics used in firefighters' protective clothing were exposed to simulated sunlight from a xenon are Weather-Ometer and heat in a forced air circulating oven, and the resulting changes in properties were measured (color, tearing strength, flame resistance and thermal protective performance). The thermal shrinkage and weight loss associated with heat exposure were also noted. Outer shell fabrics of Nomex III, Zirpro flame resistant wool, and PBI/Kevlar were all susceptible to light and underwent marked reductions in tensile tearing strength as a result of light exposure. Heat exposure resulted in a significant reduction in the tearing strength of all outer shell fabrics while increasing the tearing strength of moisture barrier fabrics. A polyamid/flame resistant viscose blend was extremely sensitive to heat exposure, undergoing a substantial loss in tearing strength and appreciable thermal shrinkage. Zirpro flame resistant wool was particularly sensitive to temperatures greater than 230°C. Although both light and heat caused losses in physical strength, there was no noticeable reduction in the flame resistance or thermal protective performance of the individual fabrics and garment assemblies studied.

The effects of moisture on the thermal protective performance of firefighter protective clothing under medium intensity radiant exposure

2017 ◽  
Vol 88 (8) ◽  
pp. 847-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Guowen Song ◽  
Haitao Ren ◽  
Juan Cao
Keyword(s):  
Flame Retardant ◽  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Outer Shell ◽  
Absorbed Energy ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Degree Burn ◽  
Firefighter Protective Clothing ◽  
Protective Performance ◽  
Second Degree

Current firefighter protective clothing is composed of multilayer fabric systems. The outer shell fabrics inevitably become wet in the process of firefighters performing their duties, and sweat may also increase moisture in the inner layers of protective clothing. In this study, two kinds of outer shell fabrics (aramid IIIA fabric and aramid 1313 and flame-retardant viscose-blended fabric) and two kinds of thermal liner fabrics with different thicknesses were selected. Three wetness conditions were simulated for the outer shell fabric, thermal liner fabric and both fabrics together. A modified thermal protective performance (TPP) tester was applied to assess TPP provided by these wetted fabrics; in addition, second-degree skin burn time was predicted and absorbed energy indexes were calculated. The regression method was employed to create fitting curves for absorbed energy and second-degree burn time in different configurations and the Pearson correlation was established to analyze their relationship, in which the lowest R2 value could reach 0.9122 and p-values were all much less than 0.05. Performance results for both wet conditions indicated that outer shell moisture and a thicker thermal liner have a positive and increased negative effect, respectively, on fabric TPP. When the sample S-3-D (aramid 1313 and flame-retardant viscose-blended fabric, moisture barrier and the thin thermal liner) was both wetted in the outer shell and thermal liner, its second-degree burn time was improved by 12.8% over performance in dry conditions. These findings may have important applications for the design and manufacture of optimal protective performance clothing systems.

Effect of moisture content on thermal protective performance of fabric assemblies by a stored energy approach under flash exposure

2017 ◽  
Vol 88 (16) ◽  
pp. 1847-1861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Guowen Song ◽  
Yiming Gu ◽  
Haitao Ren ◽  
Juan Cao
Keyword(s):  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Thermal Protection ◽  
Outer Shell ◽  
Absorbed Energy ◽  
Thermal Hazards ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Degree Burn ◽  
Protective Performance ◽  
Flash Exposure ◽  
Second Degree

Firefighters wearing protective clothing perspire profusely in the process of performing their duties, and sweat increases moisture in the inner layers of multilayer protective clothing. Also, the outer shell fabrics inevitably become wet. In this study, two kinds of outer shell fabrics (aramid IIIA fabric and aramid 1313 and flame-retardant viscose-blended fabric) and three kinds of thermal liner fabrics with different thicknesses were selected. Two wetness conditions were investigated to simulate the sweating in thermal liner fabric with or without the wet outer shell fabric. A modified thermal protective performance (TPP) tester was employed to explore the effects of moisture and its distribution on stored thermal energy developed in six fabric systems and on TPP under flash exposure. Pearson correlations were established to analyze the relationships of the fabric systems’ thickness and second-degree burn time, and of absorbed energy and second-degree burn time in different configurations. The statistical analysis from these obtained data indicated that the thickness of fabric systems had no significant correlation for second-degree burn time ( p > 0.05), but the absorbed energy exhibited a strong relation (the lowest R2 value could reach 0.8070 and p-values were all much less than 0.05). Performance results for the wet thermal liner indicated that the negative impact on thermal protection reached the greatest degree in 15% wetness, but in some extreme situations (100% wetness), the performance was improved (the maximum increase can achieve 116.2% over performance in dry condition). However, the existing moisture in the outer shell showed a positive effect. These findings will enable the engineering of textile materials that achieve high performance protection from thermal hazards and give some guidance to firefighters during operations.

scholarly journals Thermal Protective Performance of Aerogel Embedded Firefighter's Protective Clothing

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 155892501300800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengkun Qi ◽  
Dongmei Huang ◽  
Song He ◽  
Hui Yang ◽  
Yin Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Infrared Radiation ◽  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Temperature Jump ◽  
Heat Exposure ◽  
Back Surface ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Adequate Level ◽  
Protective Performance ◽  
Ir Light

Firefighters’ protective clothing (FPC) is a four-component ensemble that protects the human body against the following properties: a. radiation; b. flashover conditions; c. puncture and abrasion hazards; while still maintaining an adequate level of dexterity and comfort. Therefore, the thermal protective performance (TPP) of FPC is very important. Generally, FPC with higher TPP will result in fewer injuries. In this study, aerogel is proposed to be used in FPC to improve its TPP, and the feasibility is examined. The results show that the temperature on the back surface of the FPC samples that were filled with aerogel was 100 °C lower than that of those unfilled FPC samples under the same heat exposure. However, a short temperature jump occurred during the tests due to the penetration of infrared radiation (IR) light. In addition, the weight of the FPC sample in which the aerogel was embedded was lessened about 24.3%. It is concluded that filling aerogel in FPC can effectively improve its TPP and lessen its weight, while some additives must be used to absorb or scatter the IR light that causes the temperature jump.

scholarly journals A categorization tool for fabric systems used in firefighters' clothing based on their thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performances

2018 ◽  
Vol 89 (16) ◽  
pp. 3244-3259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumit Mandal ◽  
Simon Annaheim ◽  
Andre Capt ◽  
Jemma Greve ◽  
Martin Camenzind ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Index ◽  
Protective Clothing ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Thermal Protective Clothing ◽  
Low Performance ◽  
Fabric System ◽  
Protective Performance

Fabric systems used in firefighters' thermal protective clothing should offer optimal thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performances. However, fabric systems that have very high thermal protective performance have very low thermo-physiological comfort performance. As these performances are inversely related, a categorization tool based on these two performances can help to find the best balance between them. Thus, this study is aimed at developing a tool for categorizing fabric systems used in protective clothing. For this, a set of commercially available fabric systems were evaluated and categorized. The thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performances were measured by standard tests and indexed into a normalized scale between 0 (low performance) and 1 (high performance). The indices dataset was first divided into three clusters by using the k-means algorithm. Here, each cluster had a centroid representing a typical Thermal Protective Performance Index (TPPI) value and a typical Thermo-physiological Comfort Performance Index (TCPI) value. By using the ISO 11612:2015 and EN 469:2014 guidelines related to the TPPI requirements, the clustered fabric systems were divided into two groups: Group 1 (high thermal protective performance-based fabric systems) and Group 2 (low thermal protective performance-based fabric systems). The fabric systems in each of these TPPI groups were further categorized based on the typical TCPI values obtained from the k-means clustering algorithm. In this study, these categorized fabric systems showed either high or low thermal protective performance with low, medium, or high thermo-physiological comfort performance. Finally, a tool for using these categorized fabric systems was prepared and presented graphically. The allocations of the fabric systems within the categorization tool have been verified based on their properties (e.g., thermal resistance, weight, evaporative resistance) and construction parameters (e.g., woven, nonwoven, layers), which significantly affect the performance. In this way, we identified key characteristics among the categorized fabric systems which can be used to upgrade or develop high-performance fabric systems. Overall, the categorization tool developed in this study could help clothing manufacturers or textile engineers select and/or develop appropriate fabric systems with maximum thermal protective performance and thermo-physiological comfort performance. Thermal protective clothing manufactured using this type of newly developed fabric system could provide better occupational health and safety for firefighters.

Comprehensive Evaluation on Performance of PSA Blended Fabrics

2013 ◽  
Vol 821-822 ◽  
pp. 317-320
Author(s):  
Xiao Wen Luo ◽  
Zhi Qing Shu ◽  
Jun Li
Keyword(s):  
Clustering Analysis ◽  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Gray System Theory ◽  
Gray System ◽  
Fixed Weight ◽  
Thermal Protective Clothing ◽  
Protective Performance ◽  
Selection Of

To reveal specific wearing property and principle of polysulfonamide (PSA) blended fabric, this paper aims to make a comparative study of the performance of new PSA blended fabric based on mechanical property, thermal protective performance and, at the same time, explore the performance gap between the different fabrics. Based on the gray fixed weight clustering analysis of gray system theory, several PSA blended fabric have been proved with excellent comprehensive performance, these provided a basis for the selection of thermal protective clothing fabrics.

scholarly journals Analysis of thermal properties, water vapor resistance and radiant heat transmission through different combinations of firefighter protective clothing

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (06) ◽  
pp. 458-465
Author(s):  
NAEEM JAWAD ◽  
ADNAN MAZARI ◽  
AKCAGUN ENGIN ◽  
HAVELKA ANTONIN ◽  
KUS ZDENEK
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Flux Density ◽  
Heat Flux Density ◽  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Radiant Heat ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Firefighter Protective Clothing ◽  
Protective Performance ◽  
Different Levels

This experimental work is an effort to seek the possibility of improvement in thermal protective performance of firefighter protective clothing at different levels of heat flux density. Improvement in thermal protective performance means enhancement in the time of exposure against the heat flux, which will provide extra time to firefighters to perform their duties without suffering from severe injuries. Four different multilayer combinations of firefighter protective clothing were investigated. Each combination consists of outer shell, moisture barrier and thermal liner. Aerogel sheet was also employed as a substitute to thermal barrier. Initially, properties like thermal resistance, thermal conductivity, and water vapor resistance of multilayer fabric assemblies were investigated. Later on these combinations were exposed to different levels of radiant heat flux density i.e. at 10, 20 and 30 kW/m2 as per ISO 6942 standard. It was noted that those combinations in which aerogel blanket was used as thermal barrier acquire greater thermal resistance, water vapor resistance and have less transmitted heat flux density values.

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