Thermal insulations of multilayer clothing systems measured by a bench scale test in low level heat exposures
International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology
ISSN: 0955-6222
Article publication date: 26 August 2014
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to measure the thermal insulation of protective clothing with multilayer gaps in low-level heat exposures.
Design/methodology/approach
Nine different combinations of protective clothing systems with multiple air gaps are used to measure the thermal insulation by a self-designed bench-scale test apparatus in different levels of an external thermal radiation of 2-10 kW/m2. The outside and inside surface temperatures of each fabric layer are also measured to calculate the local thermal insulation of each fabric layer and each air gap.
Findings
The results show that the total thermal insulation of protective clothing under thermal radiation is less than that in normal environments, and the exposed thermal radiation will worsen the total thermal insulation of the multilayer fabric systems. Air gap plays a positive role in the total thermal insulation, and thus provides the enhanced thermal protection. It is also suggested that the local resistance of the air gap closer to the external thermal radiation is more easily affected by the thermal radiation, due to the different heat transfer ways in the fabric system and the external thermal radiation.
Originality/value
Effects of air gap on the thermal insulation of protective clothing, and contribution of the local thermal resistance of each fabric layer and each air gap to the total thermal insulation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper was supported by China National Key Basic Research Special Funds Project (Grant No. 2012CB719705), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91024018 and 51076073) and the Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program (Grant No. 2012THZ02160).
Corrigendum - It has been brought to the attention of Emerald Group Publishing that the article “Thermal insulations of multilayer clothing systems measured by a bench scale test in low level heat exposures”, published in International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 26 No. 5, contained some errors in the data presented in Figure 2(a) (p. 418).
The errors appear in the data of the total thermal insulations of N1 (the sample without air gap) in Figure 2(a). The values of the total thermal insulations of N1 are corrected by 17.1, 16.8, 14.0, 13.3 and 10.5, (×10−3 °Cm2W–1), under 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 kW/m2, respectively.
The text should also be revised accordingly.
On p. 417, “3. Results and discussion”, the total thermal insulations of N1-N5 should be revised to: “As shown in Figure 2(a), with the increase of the radiation from 2 to 10 kW/m2, the total thermal insulations of N1-N5 are reducing from 17.1 to 10.5, 25.83 to 13.08, 21.84 to 13.21, 27.17 to 14.44, and 27.64 to 13.08 (×10−3 °Cm2W–1), respectively”.
On p. 419, in “3.2 Thermal insulation of the closing system with and without air gap”, the comparison between N1 to N2-N5 should be revised to: “From Figure 2(a), it can also be seen that the total thermal insulation of the sample N1 without an air gap is less than those of other four samples”.
The authors apologise to the readers for any inconvenience caused.
Citation
Fu, M., Weng, W. and Yuan, H. (2014), "Thermal insulations of multilayer clothing systems measured by a bench scale test in low level heat exposures", International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 26 No. 5, pp. 412-423. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-06-2013-0069
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited