- A University of Alberta professor has developed a model for protective clothing that can make the job safer firefighters. current testing methods and standards for the system of protective clothing for firefighters do not take into account the heat energy stored, which can sometimes lead to second-degree burns, said Song Guowen protective clothing experts from the Department of Human Ecology. His research seeks to understand this phenomenon, measure and incorporated into the standard to predict as accurately as possible the performance of clothing and textiles that really gives the performance of the protector, or TPP, value. "Usually, people who use the usual approach to testing the performance of clothing we ignore heat energy are saved," he explains. "They think they expect the performance of clothing but they're really not.
" When doing research, Song saw the energy released when the coolant after the protective clothing in very hot environmentst. "[The energy released] was huge," he said, "especially for thick layered systems, such as that worn by firefighters. " He added that when the contribution of the stored energy is considered, the performance of clothing systems are much lower than that assumed from the value of TPP. For example, the National Association of Protection of Firefighters has formed a fundamental requirement that protective clothing for firefighters to have a minimum of 35 TPP value, which means the clothes can protect a person engulfed in flames as long as 17. 5 seconds.
However, if you add heat energy stored variable equation, that time is reduced to about 12 seconds. "This significantly change the results," said Song. "Energy can release the stored heat into the human skin even after exposure That is why people feel like they were burned or injured after an accident or incident . . That's why sometimes burns occur later when they relax, take off their clothes and suddenly felt This con ill.
tribution Song stored thermal "energy. working with the American Society for Testing and Materials to incorporate findings into voluntary standards established by the society and leads to better systems more efficient and protective clothing for firefighters. . .