Assessment of thermal performance of protective garments

Abstract

PurposeThe 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/approachThe 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.FindingsTemporal 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/implicationsBecause 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 implicationsThe 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/valueThe 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.