Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 4:3 (2011) 245252

http://www.jfbi.org | doi:10.3993/jfbi09201104

Effect of Thermal Barrier on Thermal Protective

Performance of Firefighter Garments
Lu Jin a , Kyoung-A Hong a , Hyun Do Nam b , Kee Jong Yoon a,
a Department
b School

of Fiber System Engineering, Dankook Univerisity, Yongin, 448-701, Korea

of Electronics & Electrical engineering, Dankook Univerisity, Yongin, 448-701, Korea

Abstract
For firefighter protective clothing, thermal protective performance is of primary importance. In this
regard, the effects of thermal barrier construction on the level of thermal protection were investigated.
In this study, needle punched nonwovens of varying thicknesses for application as thermal barrier were
prepared from 100% meta-aramid, 100% wool, and 90% meta-aramid/10% para-aramid fibers. The
effect of the number of layers in multilayer thermal barriers prepared from these nonwovens and the
effect of spacers on the thermal protective performance were examined. The possibility of incorporation
of aerogels into the thermal barrier to enhance the protective performance was examined. The needle
punched nonwovens were padded with 5 wt% aerogels dispersion in acetone. The differences in thermal
protective performance of nonwovens were evaluated by heat transmission on exposure to flame, heat
transmission on exposure to radiant heat and heat transmission on exposure to both flame and radiant
heat methods. Multi layer constructions with spacers and nonwovens treated with aerogels exhibited
higher thermal protective performance.
Keywords: Aerogels; Thermal Protective Performance; Firefighter Clothing; Flash Fire Mannequin;
Multi-thermal Barrier

Introduction

Firefighters are exposed to many hazards associated with their work environment. Apart from
many toxic substances in the ambient air, high radiant heat intensities and hot flames are common
risks in fire extinguishing work. Firefighters turnout equipment is designed to protect against
environmental hazards. Especially for firefighter protective clothing, the thermal protective performance is of great importance to the lives of firefighters. Thermal protective performance is an
important factor in the firefighters protective clothing development. The firefighters protective
clothing must resist heat, flames and hot substances and international standards are available for
testing such properties [1-2].

Corresponding author.
Email address: keeyoon@dku.edu (Kee Jong Yoon).

19408676 / Copyright 2011 Binary Information Press & Textile Bioengineering and Informatics Society
September 2011

246

L. Jin et al. / Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 4:3 (2011) 245252

Generally, firefighter protective clothing was composed of 3 layers such as outer shell, middle
layer and inner layer or 2 layers such as outer shell and inner layer with a combination of a
moisture barrier and a thermal barrier.
The outer layer prevents body skin from the exposure of heat radiation or flame and middle
layer provides both the performance of waterproof and heat insulation. Usually, the aramid fibers
are used as the layer of insulation and PTFE membrane is used as the breathable waterproofing
layer.
As the thermal insulation is a layer of insulating material to retard heat flow through the
garment, it is very important to develop this.
Shin et al. [3] examined heat protective perfor mances of firefighters protective clothing and
heat-resistant clothing circulated in the domestic setting. Song et al. [5] studied the effects of air
layers in the firefighters protective clothing on the heat protective performances under the flash
fire.
Zhu et al. [6] investigated into firefighter protective clothing made of different material combinations, based on the demand for radiant protective perfor mance and heat-moisture transfer
properties, which are closely associated with comfort performance.
In this study, we aim to apply a new type of thermal layer with increasing thermal protective
performance to firefighters protective clothing.
Aerogel represents what technology experts consider the best insulation material ever invented.
Aerogels are synthesized using sol-gel processing followed by supercritical drying or ambient
pressure, which leaves the original gel structure virtually intact. Aerogel has an extremely fine
and highly porous structure, composed of individual features only a few nanometers in size. By
mass, it is 99.8% air, making it the least dense man-made substance. Aerogels with very higher
insulation are widely applied in construction, aerospace, defense and clothing [4].
In this paper, we studied the thermal protective performance of nonwovens treated with aerogel
and used with spacers. Heat transmission on exposure to flame, heat transmission on exposure
to radiant heat, and heat transmission on exposure to both flame and radiant heat methods were
used to measure the thermal protective performance of nonwovens treated with aerogels and used
with spacers.
Finally we manufactured a firefighters protective clothing by using aerogel composite material,
and the flash fire mannequin test method (ISO 13506) was used to measure the thermal protective
performance.

2
2.1

Experimental
Sample

Needle punched nonwovens composed of 100% meta-aramid fibers, 100% wool fibers and 90%
meta-aramid/10% para-aramid fibers changing thickness and area mass are compared. We Also
prepared the thermal layer at different thicknesses and assemblies.
D50 nanogels with particle size 711um, specific surface area 600800 m2 /g and density 3045
kg/m3 were purchased from Cabot Co. (Germ.) The details of the fabrics are illustrated in
Table 1.

247

L. Jin et al. / Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 4:3 (2011) 245252

Table 1: The characteristics of samples

Sample code

Type of fiber

Thickness (mm)

GSM (g/m2 )

SC

100% meta-Aramid

1.0

138.5

M1

100% meta-Aramid

2.9

108.2

M2

100% meta-Aramid

1.3

99.0

M3

100% meta-Aramid

1.2

88.8

100% Wool

3.5

140.8

M/P

90%meta/10%para

1.4

137.0

w1

100% Wool

1.3

81.0

w2

100% Wool

1.6

105.0

w3

100% Wool

2.0

107.5

w4

100% Wool

2.6

156.1

m1

100% meta-Aramid

1.1

91.2

m2

100% meta-Aramid

2.0

109.4

m3

100% meta-Aramid

3.0

137.0

spacer

1.3

81.5

SC(SanCheong): Commercial material

2.2

Aerogels Treatment

The needle punched nonwovens were padded with 5 wt% aerogel dispersion in acetone. After
drying for 12 hours at room temperature, nonwovens treated with aerogels were dried under
vacuum for 12 hours at 60 in oven. Both sides of samples were laminated by PTFE membrane
because of nonwovens treated with aerogel produced dust.

2.3

Test Method

The differences of thermal protective performance of nonwovens were evaluated by heat transmission on exposure to flame (ISO9151), heat transmission on exposure to radiant heat (ISO6942),
heat transmission on exposure to both flame and radiant heat (ISO17492) methods. Flame retar-

Fig. 1: Flash fire mannequin testing system

248

L. Jin et al. / Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 4:3 (2011) 245252

dancy of samples was measure by LOI test. Three-layer assemblies of fabrics, namely, the outer
layer, thermal layer and inner layer, were tested. The outer layer and inner layer were 100%
meta-aramid fabrics (Sancheong Co.) and the thermal layers were used with various nonwovens
treated with aerogels and used with spacers. Finally we manufactured the firefighters protective
clothing by using one of aerogel composite materials considering the thickness and weight, and
the flash fire mannequin testing method (ISO 13506) was used to measure the thermal protective performance [8-11]. Fig. 1 is an image of flash fire mannequin testing system in dankook
university.

3
3.1

Result and Discussion

Thermal Protective Performance

In this study, we selected M1 sample to investigate the thermal protective performance by varying
the amount of aerogels 0, 7.5wt%, 35.0wt% and 68.2wt%. Then the HTI(heat transmission index)
values were measured by heat transmission on exposure to flame, heat transmission on exposure
to radiant heat and heat transmission on exposure to both flame and radiant heat methods. The
data is illustrated in Table 2.
Table 2: The values of the HTI of needle-punched nonwoven after aerogel treated
Sample code

Aerogel add-on (%)

ISO 6942 (HTI24 )

ISO 17492 (HTI24 )

ISO 9151 (HTI24 )

M1 0

17.2

23.3

16.0

M1 a

7.5

18.9

24.3

16.2

M1 b

35.0

20.2

25.4

16.7

M1 c

68.2

21.0

28.9

17.4

M2

32.6

17.3

25.2

13.7

M3

50.7

19.1

30.1

15.7

26.8

18.9

22.4

16.1

M/P

42.1

19.2

22.9

14.8

To investigate the thermal protective performance by changing the thickness of samples treated
with aerogel, the M1, M2, M3 were prepared and then impregnated in an aqueous bath containing
aerogel and padded through squeeze rollers. And the HTI value was measured by heat transmission on exposure to flame, heat transmission on exposure to radiant heat, heat transmission on
exposure to both flame and radiant heat methods.
From the results, M1 b presented higher HTI values than M2. It seemed that the thickness
of sample affects the thermal protective performance. The thicker samples exhibit the higher
thermal protective performance. The thickness is a principal factor in thermal protective performance. However, the samples thickness is over a certain level (3 mm), and the thermal protective
performance could be reduced due to the convection [5]. As can be seen from Fig. 2, the HTI
values of the flame transmission was higher as the thickness increased. The HTI24 values between
the thermal barriers with spacers and without were only 15% different. It seemed that the
thermal barrier prevented flame transmission because spacers made air layers to insulate while
maintaining the thickness.

L. Jin et al. / Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 4:3 (2011) 245252
35

249

Without spacer
With spacer

30

HTI24 (sec)

25
20
15
10
5
0

SC m1 w2 m2 w3 m3 m4 m1/ m1/
m1 w1
Sample

Fig. 2: Value of the HIT24 of multi-thermal barrier with and without spacers
For m1 and w2 with 1 spacer, the HTI values of the thicker w2 were higher than ones of m1.
This is because w2 contained much air.
For the same thickness (m2 and w3), the HTI values of m2 with great heat resistant property
were higher.
In the multi thermal barrier with 2 spacers, the HTI values of the m1/w1 were higher than
ones of m1/m1.
It was considered that m1/w1 contained much more air as the weight per unit area was lower.
It seemed that air in the spacers of multi-layered thermal barrier is one of the major factors
affecting heat transfer through multiple layers.

3.2

Flame Retardancy

To investigate the effect of the amounts of aerogel on the flame retardancy, the samples were
treated with the different concentrations of aerogel prepared and were measured by the LOI test.
As can be seen from Fig. 3, the sample treated with aerogel had higher LOI values than the
untreated sample. It relates that the inorganic aerogel particles which attaches on the surface

LOI (%)

32
30
28
26
0

20

40
60
Aerogel add-on (%)

80

Fig. 3: LOI of meta-aramid needle punched non woven impregnated with different amounts of aerogel

250

L. Jin et al. / Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 4:3 (2011) 245252

of the samples could increase the flame retardant property. However, when the concentration of
aerogle is over 7.5 wt%, there is no significant change in the sample treated with aerogels.

3.3

Flash Fire Mannequin Test

Quantitative evaluation of thermal protective garments to fire exposure represents an important

step in the design of clothing for hazardous environments. In this paper, an automated system
for testing the garments under flash fire is presented. [7] The system uses a size 40 regular
mannequin made from a flame resistant polyester resin reinforced with fiberglass. The mannequin
is suspended from the ceiling of an 5 5 m fire-resistant burn chamber and surrounded by twelve
industrial burners capable of producing a large volume, with simulated flash fire capable of fully
engulfing the mannequin in flames. The mannequin is instrumented with 110 individual sensors
distributed over the surface of the body. In addition to measuring the heat transfer of the
mannequin with exposure of the test garment or protective clothing ensemble, these sensors also
set the exposure level by directly exposing the mannequin to the flames in a test without the
garment. The test specimen is placed on the mannequin at ambient atmospheric conditions and
exposed to the flash fire simulation with controlled heat flux, duration, and flame distribution.
The incident heat flux measured by the sensors, during and after exposure, is used to calculate
the changing temperature of human tissue at two skin depths, one representing a second degree
burn injury point and the other a third degree burn injury point. A computer system controls
data acquisition, calculation of surface heat flux, calculates the skin temperature distribution
histories, and predicts the skin burn damage for each sensor location. The computer produces a
full report of the test including a contour mapping of burn locations.
We manufactured firefighter garment using the thermal barrier treated with aerogel (sample M1,
aerogel add-on 27 wt%). In order to evaluate the thermal protective performance, we compared
it to the summary of second degree burn of both garments using the thermal barrier treated
with aerogels and without. As can be seen from Figs. 4 and 5, the summary of second degree
of the aerogel garment is 5.55%. This value is lower than commercial garments (Sanchoeng Co).
Therefore, the garment using the thermal barrier treated with aerogels exhibited higher thermal
protective performance than commercial garment and there is great potential to use it as flame or

Fig. 4: Calculated location of skin burning on mannequin (Commercial garment, 84 kW/m2 , 8 second
exposure)

L. Jin et al. / Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 4:3 (2011) 245252

251

heat resistant garment. Fig. 6 shows the aerogel garments before and after flash fire mannequin
test. Although the outer layer of garment made by meta-aramid fabric is destroyed extensively,
the thermal barrier exhibits no damage.

Fig. 5: Calculated location of skin burning on mannequin (Aerogel treated garment, 84 kW/m2 , 8 second
exposure)

Fig. 6: Images of aerogel garment before and after flash fire mannequin test

Conclusion

Different thermal barriers were studied in this work. Thermal barriers employing aerogels and
multilayer thermal barriers with or without spacers were studied to enhance the thermal protective
performance of flame resistant garment. The thermal protective performance was measured by
heat transmission on exposure to flame, heat transmission on exposure to radiant heat and heat
transmission on exposure to both flame and radiant heat methods. We found that the HTI
values increased with increasing amount of aerogel. For similar thicknesses, the values HTI of
multi-layered thermal barrier with spacer are higher than those without spacers. This is because
the spacers increase the total thickness of the constructions and the amount of air. The garment
using the thermal layer treated with aerogel exhibited higher thermal protective performance than
commercial firefighters garment. The multilayer constructions and the incorporation of aerogels
have significantly enhanced the thermal protective performance.

252

L. Jin et al. / Journal of Fiber Bioengineering & Informatics 4:3 (2011) 245252

References
[1]

Holmer, P., Protective clothing and heat stress, Ergonomics, 1995, 38(1), 162-182

[2]

Baitinger, W. F., Product engineering of safety apparel fabrics: insulation characteristics of fireretardant cottons, Textile res. J., 1979, 49(4), 221

[3]

Dong Seung Shin, Youn-Hee Jeon, Seung-Kook An and Eui-so Lee Evaluation for Thermal Protecctive Performance of Protective Clothing Textile Science and Engineering, 2006, Vol. 43. No
1

[4]

Soleimani Dorcheh., M. H. Abbasi, Silica aerogel; synthesis, properties and characterization

journal of materials processing technology, 2008, 199, 10-26

[5]

Guowen Song, Clothing Air Gap Layers and Thermal Protective Performance in Single Layer
Garment, JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL TEXTILES, Vol. 36, No. 3, 193-205

[6]

Zhu Fanglong, Zhang Weiyuan, Chen Minzhi, Investigation of Material Combinations for Firefighters Protective Clothing on Radiant Protective and Heat-Moisture Transfer Performance
FIBRES & TEXTILES , 2007, Vol. 15, No. 1 (60), 72-75

[7]

D. Juricic, B. Musizza, Evaluation of fire protective garments by using instrumented mannequin

and model-based estimation of burn injuries IEEE, 2007

[8]

Protective clothing-Protection against heat and fire-Method of test: Evaluation of materials and
material assemblies when exposed to a source of radiant heat, ISO 6942, 2002, Third edition

[9]

Clothing for protection against heat and flame-Determination of heat transmission on exprosure
to both flame and radiant heat, ISO17492, 2003

[10] Protective clothing against heat and flame-determination of heat transmission on exposure to
flame ISO 9151, 2007
[11] Protective clothing against heat and flame-Test method for complete garments-Prediction of burn
injury using an instrumented manikin, ISO13506, 2008