Abstract:

In order to evaluate the influence of waterproof permeable layer on thermal and moisture protective performance of firefighter protective clothing, an newly-developed testing apparatus was employed to characterize the thermal and moisture protective performance of various fabric systems under dry and wet heat exposure conditions, and analyze the relation between basic parameters of the waterproof permeable layer and thermal protective performance. The results demonstrated that the increase of thickness and weight of the waterproof permeable layer can increase the thermal protective performance provided from the fabric system under dry beat exposure condition, while the fabric system having the waterproof permeable layer obviously improve the thermal and moisture protective performance. The fabric’s moisture regain and air permeability are the important factors influencing the steam transfer. In addition, the total heat energy is transferred by the phase change of hot steam, so that the protection from hot steam is to reduce the steam penetration and absorption.

Key words: hot steam, firefighter protective clothing, thermal protective performance, waterproof permeable layer, thermal radiation