Effects of Moisture on the Thermal Protective Performance of Firefighter Protective Clothing in Low-level Radiant Heat Exposures

This paper describes research on the effects of absorbed moisture on the thermal protective performance of the fire fighter turnout materials exposed to thermal assaults lower than flashover conditions. A thermal testing platform and sensor are used to measure thermal protective performance of turno...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Textile research journal 2006-01, Vol.76 (1), p.27-31
Main Authors: Barker, R. L., Guerth-Schacher, C., Grimes, R. V., Hamouda, H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Burns
Exposure
Firefighters
Flashover
Heat transfer
Low level
Moisture
Moisture content
Performance evaluation
Protective
Protective clothing
Studies
Test methods
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Summary:This paper describes research on the effects of absorbed moisture on the thermal protective performance of the fire fighter turnout materials exposed to thermal assaults lower than flashover conditions. A thermal testing platform and sensor are used to measure thermal protective performance of turnout systems exposed to a sub flashover heat flux range 6.3 kw/m2 (0.15 cal/ cm2 s). The effects of moisture level on predicted second-degree burn injury for turnout systems having different moisture vapor permeability and total heat loss are discussed. Heat transfer analysis and experimental results show that, for selected test conditions, moisture negatively impacts protective performance most severely when the amount of added moisture is at a comparatively low level (15–20% of turnout system weight).
ISSN:0040-5175
1746-7748
DOI:10.1177/0040517506053947