Investigation of Feasibility of Developing Intelligent Firefighter-Protective Garments Based on the Utilization of a Water-Injection System

Chitrphiromsri, Patirop; Кузнецов, А. В.; Song, Guowen; Barker, Roger L.

doi:10.1080/10407780500359869

Cited by 20 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…[1,[9][10][11]), there is little work on high temperature fabrics. In the only works we are aware of, Torvi et al [12,13] developed a one-dimensional model to simulate the flame-resistant fabrics subjected to the high heat fluxes in Meker burner tests.…”

Section: Heat Transfer Model Previous Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Heat Transfer in Thin Fire Blanket Materials under High External Heat Fluxes

Hsu¹,

T’ien²,

Takahashi³

et al. 2011

Fire Safety Science - Proceedings of the 10th International Sym

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To investigate the performance of thin fire blanket materials for house protection from wildland fires, a one-dimensional numerical model, which combines conductive and radiative heat transfer, has been developed, solved and compared with bench-scale experiments. Two types of incident heat sources are studied: convective heating from a burner flame and radiative heating from a cone heater. Radiative heat exchange between the blanket and the environment is critical in the performance of the blankets at high temperatures. The treatment of radiation includes the solution of the radiative transfer equation by the discrete ordinate method since in-depth absorbing, emitting and scattering are believed to be important in these thin blanket materials. A number of material combinations were tested and analyzed, including single and double layers of fiberglass fabric with and without aluminum foil on the front and back surfaces. It is found that high heat-blocking efficiencies can be obtained using thin blankets. Interestingly, it is also found that protecting a house from convective heating is a more difficult challenge than protecting it from radiant heating.

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Section: Heat Transfer Model Previous Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Heat Transfer in Thin Fire Blanket Materials under High External Heat Fluxes

Hsu¹,

T’ien²,

Takahashi³

et al. 2011

Fire Safety Science - Proceedings of the 10th International Sym

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“…The widest air gap was between the most inner fabric layer and skin. The thicknesses of each textile layer or air gap are presented in Table I and the thermophysical properties of the fabrics in Table II (Song et al, 2008;Chitrphiromsri et al, 2006). Thermophysical properties of the skin, muscle and blood are easily available in the literature.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of thermal performance of protective garments

Łapka

Furmański

Wiśniewski

2017

HFF

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Purpose The paper aims to present the advanced mathematical and numerical models of conjugated heat and mass transfer in a multi-layer protective clothing, human skin and muscle subjected to incident external radiative heat flux. Design/methodology/approach The garment was made of three layers of porous fabric separated by the air gaps, whereas in the tissue, four skin sublayers and muscle layer were distinguished. The mathematical model accounted for the coupled heat transfer by conduction and thermal radiation with the associated phase transition of the bound water in the fabric fibres and diffusion of the water vapour in the clothing layers and air gaps. The skin and muscle were modelled with two equation model which accounted for heat transfer in the tissue and arterial blood. Complex thermal and mass transfer conditions at the internal or external boundaries between the fabric layers, air gaps and skin were assumed. Special attention was paid to modelling of thermal radiation emitted by external heat source, for example, a fire, penetrating through the protective clothing and being absorbed by the skin and muscle. Findings Temporal and spatial variations of temperature in the protective garment, skin and muscle, as well as volume fractions of the water vapour and bound water in the clothing, were calculated for various intensity of incident radiative heat flux. The results of numerical simulation were used to estimate the risk of the first-, second- and third-degree burns. Research limitations/implications Because of the small thickness of the considered system in comparison to its lateral dimensions, the presented model was limited to 1D heat and moisture transfer. The convective heat transfer through the clothing was neglected. Practical implications The model may be applied for design of the new protective clothing and for assessment of thermal performance of the various types of protective garments. Additionally, the proposed approach may be used in the medicine for estimation of degree of thermal destruction of the tissue during treatment of burns. Originality/value The novel advanced thermal model of the multi-layer protective garment, skin and muscle layer was developed. For the first time, non-grey optical properties and various optical phenomena at the internal or external boundaries between the fabric layers, air gaps and skin were accounted for during simulation of thermal interactions between the external heat source (e.g. a fire), protective clothing and human skin.

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“…It may become a candidate for the shell fabric for fire blankets once it becomes economically viable through commercialization in the future. Heat transfer models have been developed for fire fighter's protective clothing (Hirschler, 1997;Mell and Lawson, 1999;Torvi and Dale, 1999a,b;Song et al, 2004;Chitrphiromsri and Kuznetsov, 2005;Chitrphiromsri et al, 2006;Torvi and Threlfall, 2006). The models consist of radiative and conductive heat transfer of several layers of materials.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whole-House Fire Blanket Protection From Wildland-Urban Interface Fires

Takahashi

2019

Front. Mech. Eng.

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Each year, fires in the wildland-urban interface (WUI)-the place where homes and wildlands meet or intermingle-have caused significant damage to communities. To contribute to firefighter and public safety by reducing the risk of structure ignition, fire blankets for wrapping a whole house have been investigated in the laboratory and prescribed wildland fires. The fire blankets aim to prevent structure ignition (1) by blocking firebrands to enter homes through vulnerable spots (gutters, eaves, vents, broken windows, and roofs); (2) by keeping homes from making direct contact with flames of surrounding combustibles (vegetation, mulch, etc.); and (3) by reflecting thermal radiation from a large fire within close range (adjacent burning houses or surface-to-crown forest fires) for a sustained period of time. In the laboratory experiment, two-layer thin fabric assemblies were able to block up to 92% of the convective heat and up to 96% of the radiation (with an aluminized surface). A series of proof-of-concept experiments were conducted by placing instrumented wooden structures, covered with different fire blankets, in various fires in ascending order of size. First, birdhouse-sized boxes were exposed to burning wood pallets in a burn room. Second, wall-and-eave panels were exposed to prescribed fires climbing up slopes with chaparral vegetation in California. Finally, a cedar shed was placed in the passage of the prescribed head fire in the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. The experiments demonstrated both successful performance and technical limitations of thin fire blankets. The key success factors in protecting the WUI structure are (1) the fire blanket's heat-blocking capability, (2) endurance under severe heat-exposure high-wind conditions, and (3) proper installation. Additional studies are needed in the areas of advanced material/layer development, blanket deployment methods, and multi-structure protection strategies.

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Investigation of Feasibility of Developing Intelligent Firefighter-Protective Garments Based on the Utilization of a Water-Injection System

Cited by 20 publications

References 9 publications

Modeling Heat Transfer in Thin Fire Blanket Materials under High External Heat Fluxes

Modeling Heat Transfer in Thin Fire Blanket Materials under High External Heat Fluxes

Assessment of thermal performance of protective garments

Whole-House Fire Blanket Protection From Wildland-Urban Interface Fires

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