| Summary: |
Thermal Protective Clothing (TPC) Research & Development has been searching solutions to minimize firefighters' heat load and skin
burns. However, until now, the available commercial solutions solve isolated problems (e.g. of radiant heat or water vapour
permeability). As a drawback, episodes of heat stroke and severe burns are still often. In this project, the multidisciplinary team (3
partners) will combine the available solutions and techniques to produce a Thermal Protective Clothing with outstanding
performance. The main goal of the project is to produce an innovative thermal protective jacket for firefighters. For the first time, a
study will integrate the transient nature of the fire scenarios and behavior actions in the R&D process of the innovative TPC. The
new technological knowledge is promising and we believe that it will have a potential impact in the technological R&D of TPC field, in
national and international dimensions. A company of development and construction of TPC is already interested in the project
outcomes. Furthermore, the project aims to transfer technical capacities to stakeholders through a strong component of
dissemination events (e.g. 3 workshops and 1 Roadshow).
The correct design of firefighting protective clothing significantly reduce the health risks for firefighters and increase the time they
can tolerate exposure to wildfire scenarios. Computational Fluid Dynamics tools can significantly improve the ability to predict how a
given protective equipment will protect the firefighter in a given scenario. When these numerical models are coupled with
thermoregulation models of the human body, it is possible to simultaneously simulate heat and mass transport through the
protective equipment and the sweating effects at the skin level. This predictive capability can be used to design protective
equipment since the simulations can explore a vast range of design solutions at a low cost and in a short time. Moreover, a
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Summary
Thermal Protective Clothing (TPC) Research & Development has been searching solutions to minimize firefighters' heat load and skin
burns. However, until now, the available commercial solutions solve isolated problems (e.g. of radiant heat or water vapour
permeability). As a drawback, episodes of heat stroke and severe burns are still often. In this project, the multidisciplinary team (3
partners) will combine the available solutions and techniques to produce a Thermal Protective Clothing with outstanding
performance. The main goal of the project is to produce an innovative thermal protective jacket for firefighters. For the first time, a
study will integrate the transient nature of the fire scenarios and behavior actions in the R&D process of the innovative TPC. The
new technological knowledge is promising and we believe that it will have a potential impact in the technological R&D of TPC field, in
national and international dimensions. A company of development and construction of TPC is already interested in the project
outcomes. Furthermore, the project aims to transfer technical capacities to stakeholders through a strong component of
dissemination events (e.g. 3 workshops and 1 Roadshow).
The correct design of firefighting protective clothing significantly reduce the health risks for firefighters and increase the time they
can tolerate exposure to wildfire scenarios. Computational Fluid Dynamics tools can significantly improve the ability to predict how a
given protective equipment will protect the firefighter in a given scenario. When these numerical models are coupled with
thermoregulation models of the human body, it is possible to simultaneously simulate heat and mass transport through the
protective equipment and the sweating effects at the skin level. This predictive capability can be used to design protective
equipment since the simulations can explore a vast range of design solutions at a low cost and in a short time. Moreover, a
numerical model of heat transport through the protective equipment combined with a thermoregulation model of the human body
can be used to predict how a firefighter will react and to what stresses he will be exposed when facing a given forest fire scenario.
This prediction is useful to produce evidence-based guidelines for firefighting strategies and behavior.
In this project, the team intends to produce an innovative firefighter jacket by following a procedure based on the application of
numerical models to optimize the design. The aim of the project is to design a jacket for the range of scenarios observed in
Portuguese forest fires, with special emphasis on the transient nature of these scenarios. The jacket will be based on a combination
of protective clothing components disposed in different layers. Among the solutions will be reflecting surfaces, Phase Change
Materials (PCMs), flame retardant materials and non-conductive materials. The thermal properties of these materials will be
gathered from the literature or characterized in the laboratory. Afterwards several designs will be tested numerically and the results
validated in the laboratory. After that, a prototype will be built and tested, numerically and in the laboratory.
The project also intends to characterize the firefighter body response to different scenarios considering different protective clothing.
Of particular interest will be how the body responds in transient scenarios. This work will generate guidelines for firefighters'
strategies and behavior. The project will have a strong dissemination component to pass useful information to the Portuguese
firefighting institutions and firefighter associations, and we expect it will improve strategies and promote the correct use of
firefighting equipment.
The project joins together 3 different institutions: CEFT, CeNTI and CITEVE, which have different backgrounds and complementary
contributions. CEFT partner has vast expertise in computational fluid dynamics and heat/mass transfer and thermoregulation
models (European Projects ID: 645710 and 668786). CeNTI partner has a long expertise and capacity for R&D on functional
materials, namely multilayer systems construction through lamination and coating techniques as well as on surface functionalization
or functional coatings. CITEVE partner is expert in textile structure and garment construction and testing. |