Determination of Heat Loss from the Feet and Insulation of the Footwear

This study compared the methods of determining footwear insulation on human participants and a thermal foot model. Another purpose was to find the minimal number of measurement points on the human foot that is needed for insulation calculation. A bare foot was tested at 3 ambient temperatures on 6 participants. Three types of footwear were tested on 2 participants. The mean insulation for a bare foot obtained on the participant and model were similar. The insulation of warm footwear measured by the 2 methods was also similar. For thin footwear the insulation values from the participants were higher than those from the thermal model. The differences could be related to undefined physiological factors. Two points on the foot can be enough to measure the insulation of footwear on human participants (r = .98). However, due to the big individual differences of humans, and good repeatability and simplicity of thermal foot method, the latter should be preferred for testing.     

Effect of Sweating on Insulation of Footwear

The study aimed to find out the influence of sweating on footwear insulation with a thermal foot model. Simultaneously, the influence of applied weight (35 kg), sock, and steel toe cap were studied. Water to 3 sweat glands was supplied with a pump at the rate of 10 g/hr in total. Four models of boots with steel toe caps were tested. The same models were manufactured also without steel toe. Sweating reduced footwear insulation 19–25% (30–37% in toes). During static conditions, only a minimal amount of sweat evaporated from boots. Weight affected sole insulation: Reduction depended on compressibility of sole material. The influence of steel toe varied with insulation. The method of thermal foot model appears to be a practical tool for footwear evaluation.     

A Comparison of Two Methods of Determining Thermal Properties of Footwear

The present European Standard for footwear testing (Standard No. EN 344:1992; European Committee for Standardization [CEN], 1992) classifies footwear thermally by a temperature drop inside the footwear during 30 min at defined conditions. Today, other methods for footwear thermal testing are also available. The aim of this study was to compare EN 344:1992 with a thermal foot method. Six boots were tested according to both methods. Additional tests with modified standard tests were also carried out. The methods ranked the footwear in a similar way. However, the test according to standard EN 344:1992 is a pass-or-fail test, whereas data that is gained from the thermal foot method gives more information and allows further use in research and product development. A change of the present standard method is suggested.     

鞋类保暖性能研究

本文采用鞋类保暖性能的测试方法,测定不同帮面材料、不同鞋底材料对鞋类保暖性能的影响,对于不同的测试对象探索相同环境下的测试结果,从而为企业生产提供一定的科学指导。     

外墙保温材料在火灾中的燃烧现象小尺寸实验研究

利用外墙保温材料的小尺寸燃烧实验来研究外墙保温材料在火灾过程中的燃烧特性,分析总结外墙保温材料在火灾过程中的燃烧现象.建立外墙保温材料火灾实验模型,对外墙保温材料火灾实验的实验方法以及数据测定方式进行了介绍.采用不同阻燃性质的保温材料,研究阻燃成分阻止竖向燃烧的效果.观察不同的保温材料在燃烧过程中的点燃性能.根据材料的阻燃性能、点火位置、固定方式的不同,总结燃烧痕迹的变化规律.分析非阻燃材料在燃烧的过程中的熔滴生成,发现产生的熔滴对未燃保温材料的点燃现象.观察不同的保温材料在燃烧过程中的烟气生成及烟气层的形成.通过小尺寸火灾试验的方法来研究建筑外墙保温材料火灾的特性,提出使用阻燃型外墙保温材料的必要性.     

防化学品鞋国家标准的研究

防化学品鞋在由各类化学品引起的工伤事故中对于预防足部伤害起到非常重要的作用。文章对国内外防化学品鞋相关标准的国内外情况、技术内容进行了分析与研究,以国外先进标准为依据对我国防化学品鞋标准的技术内容进行规定,以统一产品技术要求,完善足部防护标准体系,保障人身健康安全。     

Investigation and identification of factors affecting migrating peasant workers’ usage of safety footwear in the Chinese construction industry

A sample of 300 migrating peasant workers from 15 Chinese building construction sites completed a demographic questionnaire to investigate the usage of safety footwear. The survey form was constructed based on the theory of planned behaviour, and a total of 12 questions focusing on the workers’ past experience, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control were included in the survey. It was found that 92% of the participants did not wear safety footwear while working on construction sites, although more than 91% of them believed that safety footwear would protect the foot from injury; none of the participants had been provided free safety footwear by their employer. Regression analysis shows that employers’ attitude is the most important factor affecting their usage of safety footwear, ‘providing free safety footwear’ and ‘comfortability of the safety footwear’ ranking second and third respectively.     

Fire tests on defective tank-car thermal protection systems

Many railway tank-cars carrying hazardous materials are thermally protected from fire impingement by thermal insulation and a steel jacket applied to the outside of the tank-car shell. Over time, it is possible that the thermal insulation will sag, rip, degrade, or be crushed under the steel jacket. A thermographic technique to determine whether or not a tank has insulation deficiencies has been developed, but it is necessary to determine which thermal deficiencies do not affect a tank’s survivability in a fire and which thermal deficiencies must be repaired. In order to develop a guideline in assessing thermal defects, a thermal model and experimental data would be beneficial.A series of fire tests were performed on a quarter-section tank-car mock-up to assist in developing a guideline and to provide validation data for a thermal model. Twelve fire tests, with constant, credible, simulated pool fire conditions, were performed on the tank-car mock-up with various insulation deficiencies. An infrared thermal imaging camera was used to measure the tank wall temperature. The thermal images were useful in determining the temperature profiles across the defects at different times and the transient temperature behaviour at different locations.It was seen that the properly installed thermal protection system significantly reduced the heat transfer from the fire to the tank wall. It was also seen that the steel jacket alone (i.e. 100% defect) acted as a radiation shield and provided a significant level of protection. With small defects, it was observed that the surrounding protected material provided a cooling effect by thermal conduction. A square defect greater than about 40 cm on each side should be considered significant, because unlike smaller defects, there is little benefit from the surrounding material as far as the peak defect temperature is concerned.     

Modelling breakdown of industrial thermal insulation during fire exposure

The aging of many of the installations in the oil and gas industry may increase the likelihood of loss of containment of flammable substances, which could lead to major accidents. Flame temperatures in a typical hydrocarbon fire may reach 1100–1200 °C, which are associated with heat flux levels between 250 and 350 kW/m². To limit or delay the escalation of an initial fire, passive fire protection (PFP) can be an effective barrier. Additionally, both equipment and piping may require thermal insulation for heat or cold conservation. Previous studies have investigated whether thermal insulation alone may protect the equipment for a required time period, e.g., until adequate depressurization is achieved. The present study entails the development of a numerical model for predicting the heat transport through a multi-layer wall of a distillation column exposed to fire. The outer surface is covered by stainless-steel weather protective cladding, followed by PFP, thermal insulation, and finally an inner column of carbon steel of variable thicknesses. The model for the breakdown of thermal insulation is based on observed dimensional changes and independent measurements of the thermal conductivity of the insulation after heat treatment. The calculated temperature profiles of thermally insulated carbon steel during fire exposure are compared to fire test results for carbon steel with thicknesses of 16, 12, 6 and 3 mm. The model's predictions agree reasonably well with the experiments. The degradation of the thermal insulation at temperatures above 1100 °C limits its applicability as fire protection, especially for low carbon-steel thickness. However, the model predicts that adding a 10-mm layer of more heat-resistant insulation (PFP) inside the fire-exposed cladding may considerably extend the time to breakdown of the thermal insulation.     

Performance of slippery and slip-resistant footwear in different wintry weather conditions measured in situ

In Finland about 70,000 people are annually injured in pedestrian and bicycle falling accidents occurred at the street, walkways and courtyards. Around 2/3 of these occur when the walking surface is covered by ice or snow. In general, slipping is caused by both environmental and human factors. The primary environmental factor behind slipping accidents is slip resistance characteristics of underfoot surface. Especially in winter slipping accidents are mainly due to inadequate friction between footwear and underfoot surfaces. Portable devices measuring friction, i.e. slipmeters, may be used for assessing slipperiness on different walking surfaces in situ. During winter seasons 2003 and 2004 a study was performed to evaluate the usability of portable slip simulator for measuring slipperiness of walkways on varying weather conditions and to assess slip resistance of different footwear. The Portable Slip Simulator proved to be applicable for measuring in situ the slipperiness of wintry walking surfaces and evaluating quality of winter maintenance. Significant differences in traction between footwear were found especially in normal Finnish climate winter days when friction provided by slip-resistant footwear was multifold compared to a poorer one. On very slippery icy surfaces no footwear provided enough grip and, therefore, in such conditions anti-slip devices should be used.     

Calculation of clothing insulation by serial and parallel methods: effects on clothing choice by IREQ and thermal responses in the cold.

Cold protective clothing was studied in 2 European Union projects. The objectives were (a) to examine different insulation calculation methods as measured on a manikin (serial or parallel), for the prediction of cold stress (IREQ); (b) to consider the effects of cold protective clothing on metabolic rate; (c) to evaluate the movement and wind correction of clothing insulation values. Tests were carried out on 8 subjects. The results showed the possibility of incorporating the effect of increases in metabolic rate values due to thick cold protective clothing into the IREQ model. Using the higher thermal insulation value from the serial method in the IREQ prediction, would lead to unacceptable cooling of the users. Thus, only the parallel insulation calculation method in EN 342:2004 should be used. The wind and motion correction equation (No. 2) gave realistic values for total resultant insulation; dynamic testing according to EN 342:2004 may be omitted.     

常用聚氨酯硬泡外墙外保温系统的点燃特性研究

基于锥形量热仪实验,对常用的聚氨酯硬泡外墙外保温系统的点燃特性进行了实验研究。所研究的系统种类包括粘贴保温板薄抹灰外墙外保温系统,瓷砖饰面粘贴保温板外墙外保温系统,胶粉浆料复合保温板外墙外保温系统和保温装饰板外墙外保温系统。实验结果显示,聚氨酯硬泡保温板和聚氨酯硬泡外墙外保温系统都可由热厚型点燃描述。在防护层对点燃时间的抑制效果方面,胶粉聚苯颗粒复合保温板系统最好,瓷砖饰面系统稍差但明显好于5mm和3mm厚防护层的薄抹灰系统,铝板保温装饰板系统最差。     

Calculation of Clothing Insulation by Serial and Parallel Methods: Effects on Clothing Choice by IREQ and Thermal Responses in the Cold

Cold protective clothing was studied in 2 European Union projects. The objectives were (a) to examine different insulation calculation methods as measured on a manikin (serial or parallel), for the prediction of cold stress (IREQ); (b) to consider the effects of cold protective clothing on metabolic rate; (c) to evaluate the movement and wind correction of clothing insulation values.

Tests were carried out on 8 subjects. The results showed the possibility of incorporating the effect of increases in metabolic rate values due to thick cold protective clothing into the IREQ model. Using the higher thermal insulation value from the serial method in the IREQ prediction, would lead to unacceptable cooling of the users. Thus, only the parallel insulation calculation method in EN 342:2004 should be used. The wind and motion correction equation (No. 2) gave realistic values for total resultant insulation; dynamic testing according to EN 342:2004 may be omitted.     

表面隔油膜对轻质固体灭火剂隔热性能的影响

通过对自行研制的轻质固体灭火剂隔热性能的测试 ,研究了表面隔油膜对隔热性能的影响。发现表面膜的存在在一定程度上降低了灭火剂的隔热性能 ,但一定厚度的灭火剂的隔热性能能满足隔热灭火的需要     

PPH (potassium polyacrylate & hectorite) composite materials – A new fire accident emergency method for thermal protection of adjacent tanks

When a chemical tank fire happens in a storage area, it is very important to protect adjacent tanks so as to decrease fire accident losses. In this paper, a new thermal protection method was put forward based on a PPH (potassium polyacrylate & hectorite) thermal insulation composite material spraying on an adjacent tank under fire. Firstly, the PPH material was prepared successfully by a polymerization reaction of potassium acrylate, hectorite, NaHSO₃ and (NH₄)₂S₂O₈. Secondly, thermal insulation performance of the PPH material was characterized by heat transfer process at high incident heat flux using cone calorimeter. The results show that thermal insulation performance of the PPH material is affected by a content change of (NH₄)₂S₂O₈, NaHSO₃ and hectorite in formulations. The content of (NH₄)₂S₂O₈ 0.14 wt%, NaHSO₃ 1.38 wt% and hectorite 1.4 wt% was an optimum formulation ratio to obtain best thermal insulation performance. Finally, possible thermal insulation mechanisms of the PPH material were presented using SEM, TG and TG-IR techniques. One of the thermal insulation mechanisms is the incident heat flux absorbed by water evaporation from the PPH material. Another is the thermal protection of the char formed from the PPH material at high incident thermal radiation, which can prevent heat and mass transfer.     

Physiological Method of Evaluating Protective Clothing for Work in a Cold Environment

The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of physiological studies in the evaluation of protective clothing for work in a cold environment. The study included the examination of the dynamics of changes in chosen physiological parameters (core and skin temperatures, heart rate, pulmonary minute ventilation) as well as physical ones (the temperature and relative humidity under the clothes) during work in protective clothing with unknown thermal insulation. The experiment was conducted in extreme environmental conditions (–10 and –15°C) at a work load defined by the clothing manufacturer as moderate. Results show that thermal equilibrium was achieved and maintained throughout the investigated work time (60 min) and that the protective clothing ensures safety on the time scale of a regular 8-hour work day. It was also shown that the dynamics of thermal stress physiological parameters can be used to determine the maximum duration of exposure for cold protective clothing with unknown thermal insulation.     

气凝胶消防服隔热层研制的可行性分析

为了减少火焰环境对消防员的伤害,基于消防服隔热层对消防员生命安全保障的重要性,运用对比描述的方法对现有隔热层进行了分析比较,探究了其优缺点和性能,提出了轻质且具有优异隔热性能是隔热层的发展趋势,通过对气凝胶性能的理论分析和服用性能分析,研究了利用气凝胶材料研制消防服的隔热层,结果表明气凝胶在服装领域应用已经比较广泛,在消防服领域中也已有初步应用,但用气凝胶研制消防服隔热层仍存在着一定的挑战。     

Experimental design to study corrosion under insulation in harsh marine environments

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) is a serious issue in harsh marine environments. Corrosion damage can have catastrophic effects on health and safety, asset integrity, the environment, and productivity if it is not detected and managed early. Limited information is available for CUI in marine environments. To overcome this issue, three types of corrosion tests are proposed: Determination of the effect of environmental factors on CUI using laboratory simulation, field testing, and accelerated marine atmosphere testing for CUI. This paper describes the methodology for developing statistically significant data to evaluate CUI in harsh marine field conditions, develop an accelerated laboratory test procedure to simulate CUI, develop a model of CUI rate, and develop risk-based remaining life assessment model for assets under CUI attack.     

Testing Sleeping Bags According to EN 13537:2002: Details That Make the Difference

The European Standard on sleeping bag requirements (EN 13537:2002) describes a procedure to determine environmental temperature limits for safe usage of sleeping bags regarding their thermal insulation. However, there are several possible sources of error related to this procedure. The main aim of this work was to determine the influence of the various measuring parameters on the acuity of the respective parameters in order to judge the requirements. The results indicated that air velocity, mattress insulation and time between unpacking the bag and measurement had a significant impact on the result, with a difference of up to 5–15% in thermal insulation between minimum and maximum allowable parameter levels. On the other hand, manikin weight, thickness of the artificial ground and presence of a face mask were found to have a negligible influence. The article also discusses more general aspects of the standard including the calculation methods used.     

基于数值模拟的外墙保温体系防火问题研究

针对国内现有的外墙外保温系统的防火性较差的现状,通过分析上海公寓楼外墙保温层的火灾,得到外墙外保温防火的三种重要因素（粘结或固定方式、防火隔离带的构造、防火保护面层）。鉴于现在流行的保温材料为膨胀聚苯板（EPS）,因而选用EPS作为模拟材料,利用数值模拟计算得出以下结论：认为火灾时有空腔的保温层比无空腔的保温层更危险;设置防火隔离带能有效得阻隔火灾的蔓延,较宽的隔离带效果更好。除此之外,外保温层防火设计中还应考虑以下三方面的问题,即遴选适当的保温材料、建议保温层也使用类似于防火分区的防火措施和保证保温效果的同时增加防火隔离带的宽度。研究结论和建议对于解决外墙保温体系防火问题具有重要的参考价值和现实意义。