Predicting the heat transfer through protective clothing under exposure to hot water spray

Abstract Hot liquid splash hazard is a common risk in workplace safety from industrial to home scale, and thermal protective clothing is required to ensure workers' health and safety. In this study, an instrumented manikin test system was used to evaluate the protective performance provided by protective clothing against hot water spray. The effects of fabric properties on the protective performance were investigated, and empirical models were developed to characterize the relationships between fabric properties and thermal protection. The contribution of stored energy to skin burn was also explored. The results indicated that the water repellence finish significantly affected the heat transfer and the protective performance, while the fabric weight and density had slight effect on the protection. The garment with lower air permeability provided better thermal protection. The overall performance increased with the increasing of air gap size for permeable garments. The weft stiffness of the fabric affected the performance as well. The garment with lower stored energy during exposure (EAE) and cooling phase (CAE) provided better thermal protection. The lower the ratio of absorbed energy during exposure to absorbed energy when 2nd degree burn occurred, the higher the stored energy contribution to skin burn injury. Though fabric weight did not show main effect on heat transfer and skin burn injury in permeable garments, it did affect the EAE/BAE. The findings suggest effective design improvement for the protective clothing.