2006 journal article

Effects of moisture on the thermal protective performance of firefighter protective clothing in low-level radiant heat exposures

TEXTILE RESEARCH JOURNAL, 76(1), 27–31.

By: R. Barker n, C. Guerth-Schacher, R. Grimes* & H. Hamouda n

author keywords: thermal protective performance; heat in textiles; moisture in textiles; thermal test methods; stored thermal energy
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 6, 2018

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).