Trial by fire
May 29th 2007

As part of this year's Safety & Health Expo at, NEC Birmingham, DuPont carried out a series of controlled tests comparing how various types of protective clothing systems react when engulfed in flames.

Using its THERMO-MAN facility, the DuPont Personal Protection team demonstrated the importance of wearing the appropriate level of protection when exposed to intense heat and flame.

The tests demonstrated how fabrics and fibres - from natural and treated-flame-retardant materials to the advanced fibre technology of DuPont NOMEX - actually perform in flash fire scenarios.

When exposed to a flash fire NOMEX does not melt or drip. It will self-extinguish when removed from the heat source, and starts carbonizing at 380°C only, meaning that in the event of a flash fire, the skin underneath the garment is likely to escape the 2nd or 3rd degree burns probable if conventional fabrics are worn.

DuPont says that as NOMEX is actually a fibre, rather than just a top surface coating, it renders the garments resistant to the potentially detrimental effects of repeated laundering, routine wear and tear, and even exposure to UV light.

The DuPont THERMO-MAN is a six foot manikin equipped with 122 thermal sensors. When the manikin is dressed in protective clothing and exposed to simulated flash fire conditions in confined environments (where temperatures can reach 1000°C), the sensors evaluate the performance of the garments. Data collected from the heat sensors, both during and after exposure to flames, predicts the amount and location of burn injury, the time to pain and the likelihood of 2nd degree burns. The chance of survival rates can also be predicted across certain age groups.

Garments made of NOMEX can be layered with other types of PPE to provide the most appropriate levels of protection, or in certain circumstances a ‘Wildland Suit’ alone may suffice.

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