Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
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Thermal Insulation of Protective Clothing Materials in Extreme Cold Conditions

  • Mohamed Zemzem (Dept. of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Montreal) ;
  • Stephane Halle (Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Ecole de Technologie Superieure) ;
  • Ludwig Vinches (Dept. of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Montreal)
  • Received : 2022.05.03
  • Accepted : 2022.11.18
  • Published : 2023.03.30
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Abstract

Background: Thermophysiological comfort in a cold environment is mainly ensured by clothing. However, the thermal performance and protective abilities of textile fabrics may be sensitive to extreme environmental conditions. This article evaluated the thermal insulation properties of three technical textile assemblies and determined the influence of environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, and wind speed) on their insulation capacity. Methods: Thermal insulation capacity and air permeability of the assemblies were determined experimentally. A sweating-guarded hotplate apparatus, commonly called the "skin model," based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 11092 standard and simulating the heat transfer from the body surface to the environment through clothing material, was adopted for the thermal resistance measurements. Results: It was found that the assemblies lost about 85% of their thermal insulation with increasing wind speed from 0 to 16 km/h. Under certain conditions, values approaching 1 clo have been measured. On the other hand, the results showed that temperature variation in the range (-40℃, 30℃), as well as humidity ratio changes (5 g/kg, 20 g/kg), had a limited influence on the thermal insulation of the studied assemblies. Conclusion: The present study showed that the most important variable impacting the thermal performance and protective abilities of textile fabrics is the wind speed, a parameter not taken into account by ISO 11092.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to express their gratitude to industrial collaborators in Logistic Unicorps; Mr. Mehdi Ben Salah and Mrs. Fanny Chainiau. The authors also thank Mrs. Justine Decaens, Francois Turcotte, and Rachelle Lemonde from CTT Group for assistance and guidance that greatly improved the work made in this article. Finally, the authors thank Pr. Jerome Lavoue from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health of the School of Public Health of the University of Montreal for his advices in statistical analyses.

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