Development of an Apparatus for Measuring the Thermal Performance of Fire Fighters' Protective Clothing.
Development of an Apparatus for Measuring the Thermal
Performance of Fire Fighters' Protective Clothing.
(3647 K)
Lawson, J. R.; Twilley, W. H.
NISTIR 6400; 55 p. October 1999.
Sponsor:
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
(NTIS), Technology Administration, U.S. Department of
Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161.
Telephone:
1-800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000;
Fax: 703-605-6900.
Website: http://www.ntis.gov
Order number: PB2000-100422
Keywords:
protective clothing; fire fighters; environments; heat
transfer; burns (injuries); test methods; garments
Abstract:
Fire fighters' protective clothing has steadily improved
over the years as new materials and improved designs
have reached the market. A significant catalyst that has
brought these improvements to the fire service is the
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1971
standard on structural fire fighters' protective
clothing. The fabric flammability test in this standard
has resulted in the development of protective garments
that resist flaming ignition. The Thermal Protective
Performance (TPP) test has assisted in the development
of garments that protect fire fighters from short
duration, high intensity, flash fire exposures. These
two thermal tests methods have clearly lead to
improvements in fire fighter safety. However, thousands
of fire fighters are continuing to be seriously burned
each year. Discussions with fire service personnel
indicate that many of these serious burn injuries are
occurring when fire fighters are exposed to thermal
environments that are significantly less intense than
those addressed in the NFPA standard. Therefore, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
has begun the development of a method for measuring the
thermal performance of fire fighters' protective
clothing under thermal conditions less severe than those
currently specified in NFPA 1971. This report describes
a test apparatus and investigates a method for measuring
the thermal performance offire fighters' protective
clothing. The test method measures temperature through
the various layers that make up a fire fighter's thermal
protective garment. Temperature measurements are made at
the surface of the outer shell, at locations between
fabric or moisture barrier layers inside the protective
clothing system, and at the, thermal liner surface where
the fire fighter's clothing or body would be in contact
with the garment. When plotted, these temperature
measurements show a detailed picture of how a protective
clothing system performs when exposed to a given thermal
environment. The apparatus may be used to expose
protective clothing specimens to a wide range of heat
flux conditions. These thermal conditions may be varied
from 1.5 kW/m2 to more than 50 kW/m2. The test apparatus
may be used for investigating the effects of moisture in
protective clothing systems. In addition, this test
apparatus and the measurement methods allow for
specimens to be studied for a time period ranging from
several secondsto more than 30 minutes.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899