Thermal Protective Performance of Firefighters' Protective Clothing in Radiant Heat Exposures

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-374
Author(s):  
Huang Dongmei ◽  
Hu Yin
Keyword(s):  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Radiant Heat ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Protective Performance

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.

scholarly journals Review: Radiation Heat Transfer Through Fire Fighter Protective Clothing

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jawad Naeem ◽  
Adnan Ahmed Mazari ◽  
Antonin Havelka
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Radiant Heat ◽  
Fire Fighter ◽  
Radiation Heat ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Firefighter Protective Clothing ◽  
Protective Performance ◽  
Different Levels

A fire fighter garment is multilayer protective clothing with an outer shell, moisture barrier and thermal barrier, respectively. Fire fighters encounter different levels of radiant heat flux while performing their duties. This review study acknowledges the importance and performance of fire fighter protective clothing when subjected to a low level of radiation heat flux as well as the influence of air gaps and their respective position on the thermal insulation behaviour of multilayer protective clothing. Thermal insulation plays a vital role in the thermal comfort and protective performance of fire fighter protective clothing (FFPC). The main emphasis of this study was to analyse the performance of FFPC under different levels of radiant heat flux and how the exposure time of fire fighters can be enhanced before acquiring burn injuries. The preliminary portion of this study deals with the modes of heat transportation within textile fabrics, the mechanism of thermal equilibrium of the human body and the thermal protective performance of firefighter protective clothing. The middle  portion is concerned with thermal insulation and prediction of the physiological load of  FFPC. The last section deals with numerical models of heat transmission through firefighter protective clothing assemblies and possible utility of aerogels and Phase Change Materials  (PCMs) for enhancing the thermal protective performance of FFPC.

Thermal protective performance of protective clothing used for low radiant heat protection

2010 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guowen Song ◽  
Stephen Paskaluk ◽  
Rohit Sati ◽  
Elizabeth M Crown ◽  
J. Doug Dale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Radiant Heat ◽  
Thermal Protective Performance ◽  
Heat Protection ◽  
Protective Performance

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.

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