Mathematical modelling of the effect of fire exposure on a new type of protective clothing

Abstract

We model the behaviour of heat transport through a new type of protective clothing that varies its properties with temperature. Heat absorption due to phase change within the material is used to limit the heat conduction of the material. We investigate the performance of such a material to determine the possibility of using these types of materials as protective clothing for firefighters. Clothing with embedded phase change material is found to give significantly more protection than conventional firefighting clothing. References ASTMD 4108-87 standard test method for thermal protective performance of materials for clothing by open-flame method, 1987. American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA. J. M. Carter, M. P. Rayson, D. M. Wilkinson, V. Richmod, and S. Blacker. Strategies to combat heat strain during and after firefighting. J. Thermal Biology , 32:109--116, 2007. doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2006.12.001 . P. Chitrphiromsri and A. V. Kuznetsov. Modeling heat and moisture transport in firefighter protective clothing during flash fire exposure. Heat Mass Transfer , 41:206--215, 2005. doi:10.1007/s00231-004-0504-x . K. R. Diller. Modeling thermal skin burns on a personal computer. Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation , 19:420--429, 1998. J. Fan and X. Y. Cheng. Heat and moisture transfer with sorption and phase change through clothing assemblies. Textile Research J. , 75(3):187--196, 2005. doi:10.1177/004051750507500301 . FlexPDE. http://www.pdesolutions.com . J. A. Foster and G. V. Roberts. Measurements of the firefighting environment - summary report. Fire Engineers J. , 55:30--34, 1995. J. A. Gear, M. J. Lachut, and Y. Ding. Enhanced thermal performance of garments embedded with encapsulated phase change material. In Andrew Stacey, Bill Blyth, John Shepherd, and A. J. Roberts, editors, Proceedings of the 7th Biennial Engineering Mathematics and Applications Conference, EMAC-2005 , volume 47 of ANZIAM J. , pages C137--C151, July 2006. http://anziamj.austms.org.au/V47EMAC2005/Gear . F. C. Henriques. Studies of thermal injury V. The predictability and the significance of thermally induced rate processes leading to irreversible epidermal injury. Archives of Pathology , 43:489--502, 1947. S. C. Jiang, N. Ma, H. J. Li, and X. X. Zhang. Effects of thermal properties and geometrical dimensions on skin burn injuries. Burns , 28:713--717, 2002. doi:10.1016/S0305-4179(02)00104-3 . G. N. Mercer and H. S. Sidhu. A heat transfer model describing burns to the skin from automotive airbags. In Andrew Stacey, Bill Blyth, John Shepherd, and A. J. Roberts, editors, Proceedings of the 7th Biennial Engineering Mathematics and Applications Conference, EMAC-2005 , volume 47 of ANZIAM J. , pages C339--C354, October 2006. http://anziamj.austms.org.au/V47EMAC2005/Mercer . E. Y. K. Ng and L. T. Chua. Comparison of one- and two-dimensional programmes for predicting the state of skin burns. Burns , 28:27--34, 2002. doi:10.1016/S0305-4179(01)00066-3 . H. Shim, E. A. McCullough, and B. W. Jones. Using phase change materials in clothing. Textile Research J. , 6:4955 -- 4962, 2001. D. A. Torvi and J. D. Dale. A finite element model of skin subjected to a flash fire. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering , 116:250--255, 1994. R. L. Vettori, W. H. Twilley, and D.W. D. W. Stroup. Measurement techniques for low heat flux exposures to fire fighters protective clothing. 2001. National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 6750, Gaithersburg, MD. S. X. Wang, Y. Li, J. Y. Hu, H. Tokura, and Q. W. Song. Effect of phase-change material on energy consumption of intelligent thermal protective clothing. Polymer Testing , 25:580--587, 2006. doi:10.1016/j.polymertesting.2006.01.018 . B. Ying, Y. Kwok, Y. Li, Q. Zhu, and C. Yeung. Assessing the performance of textiles incorporating phase change materials. Polymer Testing , 23:541--549, 2004. doi:10.1016/j.polymertesting.2003.11.002 . B. Zalba, J. M. Marin, L. F. Cabeza, and H. Mehling H. Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications. Applied Thermal Eng. , 23:251--283, 2003. doi:doi:10.1016/S1359-4311(02)00192-8 .