An innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefighters
Nowadays, despite the evolution of personal protective equipment (PPE), the number of firefighters injured and burned during fire extinguishing operations is still very high, leading in some cases to loss of life. Therefore, the research and development of new solutions to minimize firefighters’ he...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
TU Dresden
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Communications in Development and Assembling of Textile Products |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdatp.testjournals-02.qucosa.de/cdatp/article/view/74 |
| _version_ | 1797208766079303680 |
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| author | Gilda Santos Rita Marques Francisca Marques João Ribeiro André Fonseca João M. Miranda João B. L. M. Campos Soraia F. Neves |
| author_facet | Gilda Santos Rita Marques Francisca Marques João Ribeiro André Fonseca João M. Miranda João B. L. M. Campos Soraia F. Neves |
| author_sort | Gilda Santos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Nowadays, despite the evolution of personal protective equipment (PPE), the number of firefighters injured and burned during fire extinguishing operations is still very high, leading in some cases to loss of life. Therefore, the research and development of new solutions to minimize firefighters’ heat load and skin burns, with consecutive improvements of commercial firefighters’ suits, is of extreme importance. The integration of phase change materials (PCMs) in a protective clothing system has been used to significantly reduce the incoming heat flux from the fire environment. This study consists in the development of a protective clothing system composed by a vest, specially designed to protect the torso (back, chest and abdomen) with a layer of PCM pouches, to be worn over a fire-resistant jacket – selection and design based on numerical models’ predictions. Therefore, several mockups were made, varying the number of PCM pouches and their distribution in the vest, allowing the creation of air ducts to increase the breathability of the vest. The most promising solutions are being evaluated in a real controlled environment, at a Portuguese National School of Firefighters (ENB) simulation site, using a fire manikin and thermocouples to monitor vest temperature during heat and flame exposure, and consequently to verify PCMs influence in heat protection. Results regarding the development of a PCM vest will be presented, focusing on the integration of PCM pouches and the thermal performance of the most promising solutions.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:44:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-18c5707a387c4a6ba8081ed361f5db5b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2701-939X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:44:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | TU Dresden |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications in Development and Assembling of Textile Products |
| spelling | doaj.art-18c5707a387c4a6ba8081ed361f5db5b2024-04-15T04:09:31ZengTU DresdenCommunications in Development and Assembling of Textile Products2701-939X2022-09-0132An innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefightersGilda Santos0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5303-8772Rita Marques1Francisca Marques2João Ribeiro3André Fonseca4João M. Miranda5João B. L. M. Campos6Soraia F. Neves7CITEVE - Technological Centre for the Textile and Clothing Industries of PortugalCITEVE – Technological Center for the Textile and Clothing Industries of Portugal, V. N. Famalicão, PortugalCeNTI – Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials, V. N. Famalicão, PortugalCeNTI – Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials, V. N. Famalicão, PortugalCEFT – Transport Phenomena Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, s/n Rua Dr. Roberto Frias 4200-465 Porto, PortugalCEFT – Transport Phenomena Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, s/n Rua Dr. Roberto Frias 4200-465 Porto, PortugalCEFT – Transport Phenomena Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, s/n Rua Dr. Roberto Frias 4200-465 Porto, PortugalCEFT – Transport Phenomena Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, s/n Rua Dr. Roberto Frias 4200-465 Porto, Portugal Nowadays, despite the evolution of personal protective equipment (PPE), the number of firefighters injured and burned during fire extinguishing operations is still very high, leading in some cases to loss of life. Therefore, the research and development of new solutions to minimize firefighters’ heat load and skin burns, with consecutive improvements of commercial firefighters’ suits, is of extreme importance. The integration of phase change materials (PCMs) in a protective clothing system has been used to significantly reduce the incoming heat flux from the fire environment. This study consists in the development of a protective clothing system composed by a vest, specially designed to protect the torso (back, chest and abdomen) with a layer of PCM pouches, to be worn over a fire-resistant jacket – selection and design based on numerical models’ predictions. Therefore, several mockups were made, varying the number of PCM pouches and their distribution in the vest, allowing the creation of air ducts to increase the breathability of the vest. The most promising solutions are being evaluated in a real controlled environment, at a Portuguese National School of Firefighters (ENB) simulation site, using a fire manikin and thermocouples to monitor vest temperature during heat and flame exposure, and consequently to verify PCMs influence in heat protection. Results regarding the development of a PCM vest will be presented, focusing on the integration of PCM pouches and the thermal performance of the most promising solutions. https://cdatp.testjournals-02.qucosa.de/cdatp/article/view/74Thermal Protective Clothing, Firefighters, Phase Change Materials, Heat Protection |
| spellingShingle | Gilda Santos Rita Marques Francisca Marques João Ribeiro André Fonseca João M. Miranda João B. L. M. Campos Soraia F. Neves An innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefighters Communications in Development and Assembling of Textile Products Thermal Protective Clothing, Firefighters, Phase Change Materials, Heat Protection |
| title | An innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefighters |
| title_full | An innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefighters |
| title_fullStr | An innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefighters |
| title_full_unstemmed | An innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefighters |
| title_short | An innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefighters |
| title_sort | innovative thermal protective clothing system for firefighters |
| topic | Thermal Protective Clothing, Firefighters, Phase Change Materials, Heat Protection |
| url | https://cdatp.testjournals-02.qucosa.de/cdatp/article/view/74 |
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