Heat Transferred by Decomposition Products from Cotton Fabrics Exposed to Intense Thermal Radiation

• Published in: Textile research journal 1965-08, Vol.35 (8), p.757-769
• Main Authors: Davies, John M., McQue, Bernard, Hoover, Thomas B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Burns; Contact; Cotton; Deposition; Fabrics; Tars; Textiles; Thermal radiation
• ISSN: 0040-5175; 1746-7748
• DOI: 10.1177/004051756503500809

Heat is transferred to skin protected against intense thermal radiation by several mechanisms. Textile fabrics provide considerable protection but some of them tend to decompose, producing tars which condense on the skin. The amount of energy trans ferred by tars from cotton fabrics was estimated by determining the amount of tar deposited and the amount of energy required to re-evaporate the tar. Two fabrics were used; one untreated, the other fire resistant treated (FR) with brominated triallyl phosphate. The energy amounts to about 500 cal for each gram of tar evaporated and is about the same for the two fabrics. Over the range of interest, the amount of tar deposited increased with increase in exposure. For fabric in contact with a skin simu lant, the energy transferred by this mechanism varied up to 1 cal cm-2 of fabric; for the spaced arrangement, up to 1.5 to 2 cal cm-2. For low and intermediate exposures, the energies transferred by the tar were about the same for the two fabrics; at the highest exposures, the values were considerably greater for the FR treated fabric. At exposures which produce disabling burns, the heat transferred by the tars is negligible for fabric in contact with the skin but for fabrics spaced from the skin, the tars may account for a fourth or more of the total energy transferred. Without this energy, the burn would be greatly reduced.