TEXTILES

FOR
PROTECTION
Keshav Dhawan
B.Tech(Textile Chemistry)-VII Sem
GNDU
1
Contents

2
Introduction
Scientific advancements made in various fields have undoubtedly increased
the quality and value of human life. It should however be recognized that
the technological developments have also exposed us to greater risks and
danger of being affected by unknown physical, chemical and biological
attacks. Fortunately, simple and effective means of protection from most of
these hazards are available. Textiles are an integral part of most protective
equipment. Protective clothing refers to garments and other fabric-related
items designed to protect the wearer from harsh environmental effects that
may result in injuries or death.

3
Classification

4
Materials & Technologies

5
Steps In The Selection of Protective Clothing
Materials

6
Smart Textiles For Protection
Smart/interactive textiles (SIT) are materials and structures that sense and react to
environmental conditions or stimuli, such as those from mechanical, thermal, chemical,
electrical, magnetic or other sources.

Smart Textiles can be divided into:

Passive smart materials, which can only sense the environmental condition or stimuli.

Active smart materials, which sense and react to the condition or stimuli.

Very smart materials, which can sense, react and adapt themselves accordingly.

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Contribution to Protection
Smart textiles can contribute to Protection and Safety in three ways:

They are able to detect conditions that signal increased danger.

They prevent accidents by sending out a warning when hazardous conditions have been
detected.
In the case of serious threats they can react by providing instantaneous protection.

Basically, five functions can be distinguished in a smart suit, namely:

Sensing.
Data processing.
Actuating.
Storage.
Communication.

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pH Sensitive Materials

Polyeletrolytic
Gels

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CHEMICAL PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
FOR
INDUSRIAL WORKERS

10
Chemical Protection
Protective clothing cannot be made generic for all chemical applications, since chemicals vary
in most cases and a particular CPC can protect only against a limited number of specific
chemicals.

Important considerations in designing chemical protective clothing are :

The amount of chemical permeation.
Breakthrough time for penetration.
Liquid repellency.
Physical properties of the CPC in specific chemical conditions.

Chemical protective clothing can be categorized as encapsulating or non-encapsulating based

on the style of wearing the clothing.

CPC is rated for four levels of protection, levels A, B, C and D from highest protection to
normal protection

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Routes of Exposure
Inhalation Oral Dermal
Nose Eyes
Lungs Skin
Mouth
Stomach

12
Classification

13
Cont…………..

14
Requirements
Chemical Protective Clothing Should Resist : Permeation , Degradation, Penetration.

Durability

Flexibility

Temperature Resistance

Service Life

Clean Ability

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Permeation
 Permeation is the diffusion of a chemical on a molecular basis through
chemical protective clothing.
 This movement of the chemical through the protective material may not be
readily noticeable because it occurs on a molecular or microscopic level.
 The time it takes the chemical to pass through the protective material until it
is first detected by an analytical instrument is called the breakthrough time.

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Degradation
The change in the physical properties of the material as a result of adverse
effects of the chemical is called degradation.
Physical properties may include material weight, dimensions, tensile strength,
hardness.
 The most common observations of material degradation are Swelling,
Discoloration , Loss of Strength or Deterioration.

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Penetration
Penetration is defined as `the flow of chemical through closures, porous
materials, seams, and pinholes and other imperfection in a protective clothing
material on a non-molecular level.
This definition is intended to accommodate both liquids and gases.
 Penetration of chemicals may take place through Zippers, Seams or
Imperfections in Protective Clothing.

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Materials For CPC

19
Textile Materials
Ordinary textile materials are generally not considered suitable for protection against
chemicals, however special non-coated textile materials are used for a variety of applications
involving particulates and light liquid spray from relatively non-hazardous chemicals.

Though woven textiles are not often found in chemical protective clothing, very tightly woven,
repellent-treated fabrics can provide some very low minimum protection against liquid exposure.

 More common are nonwoven fabrics that have demonstrated barrier performance against
particles and repellency of liquids.

Two predominant examples of non- woven fabrics are flashspun polyethylene (Tyvek) and
spunbond/ meltbown/ spunbond (SMS) polypropylene (Kleenguard).

These textiles are used because of their relatively low cost and because the materials provide a
structure of microfibers that filter out dry particulates and many water-based liquids.

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Flash Spun Polyethylene
Made from very fine, high-density polyethylene fibers, lightweight yet strong; vapor-
permeable, yet water- and chemical-resistant, as well as puncture-, tear- and abrasion-resistant.

Tyvek® is formed by a fully integrated process using continuous and very fine fibers of 100%
high-density polyethylene that are randomly distributed and no directional. These fibers are first
flash-spun, then laid as a web on a moving bed before being bonded together by heat and
pressure - without the use of binders.

Extensive Temperature Range, Excellent Dimensional Stability: -73°C (132°C).

21
SMS Polypropylene
Breathable fabric multilayered laminate.

The two outer spun bond layers are made of randomly deposited 15 – 20 micron
diameter continuous polypropylene fibres which provide cloth-like comfort while also
offering fabric strength, durability and abrasion resistance.

The inner melt blown layer provides a filter barrier and is typically comprised of 1-3
micron diameter polypropylene fibres.

The advantage of melt blown as the barrier layer is that it is permeable to both air
and moisture vapour, meaning that both air and sweat vapour can pass through the
garment to keep the skin cool and the wearer more comfortable in hot working
environments.

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4 Advantages of SMS
Non-fibrous – ultra low lint Excellent barrier to chemicals and particles

Film

Non-woven
Anti-static to EN1149-1

Provides strength and durability to the garment

The melt blown barrier layer provides a great deal of particulate and liquid protection.

Bonded together, these layers result in a tough cloth-like fabric that provides a high degree
of protection and comfort.
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Unsupported Rubber and Plastic Materials
Normally, chemical protective clothing materials include supporting textile fabrics to
provide strength.

However, there are some CPC materials that do not include a fabric substrate. The
rubber material or plastic is thick enough to provide sufficient strength for clothing use.

Examples of polymers used in these materials are polyvinyl chloride and chlorinated
polyethylene.

Because the materials are continuous, they offer a barrier to liquids and can be used
in the construction of CPC intended for protection against liquids and gases.

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Micro Porous Film-Based Materials
Microporous films have millions of microscopic pores per square inch of the film
structure.
In most cases, the pores are irregularly shaped with tortuous paths through the film.
This material feature makes the film `breathable' .
The microporous films are generally glued or laminated to woven or nonwoven
fabrics for physical support.
Owing to their physical structure, these fabrics provide barrier performance against
liquids but not gases.

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Adsorbent-Based Materials
These materials include adsorbents, such as activated charcoal or other sorbent
materials.
Activated Carbon : Activated carbon in very fine powder or granular form is useful
to purify both water and air. Activated carbon has particular affinity to organic
materials such as solvents used in printing inks and common coatings.

(a) Granular (b) Fibrous

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Cont…………..
Development of Chemical Protective Clothing:
The chemical protective clothing is formed by five layers, the outer shell made of
polyester as it has low absorption of 2% and it provides a good strength to the fabric
and polyester has a good resistance to lab grade chemicals. The inner layer is made up
of cotton fabric as it gives good absorbency and comfort. The middle layer comprises
of cotton non woven sandwiched with activated carbon.

The polyester fabric has 2% absorption, to avoid penetration of liquid chemicals

through the fabric; the fabric is finished with water repellent chemical NUVA HPU

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Water Repellent Finishing of PET
Nuva HPU
1. Appearance - Liquid, milky-white dispersion
2. Chemical character - Dispersion of a flour compound
3. Ionic character - slightly cationic
4. pH - about 4 (5% as supplied aqueous)

Recipe:
Nuva HPU : 50 gpl
Acetic acid : 0.5 – 1.5 ml/l

Procedure:

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TECHNIQUE OF EMBEDING ACTIVATED
CARBON
The carbon used had the following specifications :
Carbon Tetra Chloride Adsorption % 75-85
Apparent Density gm/cc 0.42 - 0.47
Ash Content (Max) % max 2.5
Ball - Pan Hardness Number 96.5+
pH 9-11
Surface Area sq. M/gm 1300 – 1400
Size of granules 0.85 X 0.300 mm

The conventional chemical protective clothing was based on embedding activated carbon using
adhesives and polyurethane foam with a activated carbon load of 120 – 160 GSM.
 These fabrics had low comfort properties of air permeability and thermal comfort causing
stress to the wearer.

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Needle Punching Technology
The novel technique of embedding activated carbon uses a base fabric made of 100 % cotton and
needle punched cotton non-woven.

The activated carbon granules coated over the double pass needle punched fabric gets embedded
in the non-woven. The cotton fibers dose not allows the carbon granules to move from its place.
30
The activated carbon coated non woven had a GSM of 341.
Cont……….. Needling
The fabric thus prepared was fed in to the needle punching machine through a pair of
conveyors and calendar rollers.
To provide a initial cohesion to the layers a pressure of 6 bar was maintained at front and back
pair of calendar rollers.
The web was fed such that the cotton woven fabric as the top layer.

The fabric layers were needle punched with following settings:

In feed speed 0.4 m /min

Draw off speed : 0.4 m/ min

Strokes / min : 152

Depth : 15 mm

Width : 700 mm

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Bonding of Non-Woven & PET Fabric

The
Theactivated
maximum carbon sandwiched
penetration was non
inwoven
case of and polyester
acetone fabric
and are 0.4
it was bonded
%,
together
while theusing acrylic resin. in case of hydrogen peroxide and sodium
no penetration
Acrylic resin provides a good strength along with flexibility.
hydroxide.
The fabric is placed on a platform and the resin is uniformly sprayed on the
The maximum permeation was in case of dichloromethane and it was
fabric using a hand spray gun .
10.79%, while
 The cotton nonno permeation
woven is placedinover
case
theoffabric
sulphuric
and theacid.
fabric is applied with
 The maximum
uniform pressure. degradation was in case of sulphuric acid and the
 Thus loss
weight of the
prepared fabric
fabric wasat18.60%,
is cured while
110 0C for no degradation in case of
2 min.
sodium hydroxide, Hydrochloric acid and Dimethyl Formamide.

32
Material For CPC ………….Cont………
Coated fabrics:
Materials using this construction tend to be heavy, but relatively rugged and are used in a variety
of chemical protective clothing. Today, the most common clothing using coated fabrics are
splash suits, but some higher-end totally encapsulating suits may be made from coated fabrics.

Plastic laminates :
These materials combine various plastic polymer films with nonwoven substrate fabrics resulting
in chemical-resistant, lightweight, relatively inexpensive materials. The majority of substrates are
based on polypropylene and films are based on polyethylene and polyvinyl alcohol polymers, but
more sophisticated films may employ a variety of different plastic films in a single laminate.

Combination or specialized materials:

These fabrics generally attempt to combine the best attributes of each class. For example, coated
fabrics have been laminated with a plastic film on one side to provide the flexible features
associated with rubber-based fabrics and the high levels of chemical resistance. Microporous
films can be combined with adsorbent-based materials to provide a film with liquid chemical
resistance that adsorbs large molecular weight chemical vapors.

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Garment Design Features
The type and location of Seams.

The type, length, and location of the closure system(s).

The type and characteristics of visors or face shields, if integrated into garments.

The design of interface areas with other chemical protective clothing or equipment.

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Seams

35
Closure Systems
Closures are typically the `weak' link in the chemical protective clothing barrier.
The simplest closures are zippers or a series of snaps.
CPC designs use storm flaps to cover the zipper or snaps.
Liquid-repellent
Two-track
The closureszippers
pressure-sealing aretwo
involve
zipper conventional
usesextruded zippersofrubber
a compressible
pieces that useorthat
plastic rubber
plastic or plastictowith
fit together
material coated
provide tape
a zipperinstead
a seal
chain
much
of
to woven
likepush
many cloth
the twoon
plastic theof
sides sides
sandwich of the These
the bags.
closurezipper and together
material thatoffer
closures havefor a special
good
creating chain
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a seal.
against
These that are
liquids
zippers coated
(and
tend totobe
vapors)
limit liquid
but can
bulky and penetration.
beexpensive
difficult tobut
sealareover
generally
a long required
length . when total encapsulation of the wearer is
required.

36
Garment Visors
Visors are generally incorporated into suits to offer chemical barrier protection for the head and
face area. In general, the visor is constructed from a material that provides clear undistorted
vision as well as chemical resistance.

The principal materials used in visor construction are polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, and
polymethacrylate.
Since the visor material must provide optical qualities, only transparent materials can be
chosen as visors.
When greater chemical resistance is required, the visor made be made of a composite material
that includes fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) laminated to PVC.

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Interface Areas
Principal CPC Interfaces include:
Amount of overlap for multi-piece garments.
Upper torso garment sleeve to glove.
Lower torso pant cuff to footwear.
Upper torso garment collar to hood.
Hood to respirator.
If different pieces of chemical protective clothing are worn, the items should provide sufficient
overlap to cover the wearer's skin particularly during bending over.

Elasticized sleeve ends provide somewhat better conformance of the sleeve with the glove.
A straight cuff is used. The cuff is generally pulled over the boot to keep liquid from entering
the top of the boot or footwear.

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Levels of Chemical Protection
In Hazardous Material operations there are four levels of protection.
Level A

Level B

Level C

Level D

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Level A

Level A should be worn when the highest level of respiratory, skin, and eye
protection is required.
Level A is used when:
Conditions are unknown.
The hazardous substance has been identified and requires the highest level
of protection for skin, eyes, and respiratory system.
Operations are being conducted in confined, poorly ventilated areas.
Work function involves a high potential for splash, immersion, or
exposure to unexpected skin hazards .

Fully encapsulating suit with self-contained breathing apparatus.

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Level B
Should be selected when the highest level of respiratory protected is
needed and some degree of skin protection is required. Level B is
the minimum recommendation for initial site entry.
Level B protection is used when:
Air contaminants are unknown.
Air contaminants have been identified and the criteria for using
APRs are not met.
The atmosphere contains less than 19.5% oxygen.
Direct contact does not pose a severe skin hazard.

Self-contained breathing apparatus, Chemical protective clothing,

gloves, and hard hat.

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Level C
Level C should be selected when types of airborne contaminants
are known, the concentrations are measured and the criteria for
using air-purifying respirators (APRs) are met.
Level C protection is used when:
Criteria for the use of APRs are met.
Air contaminants have been identified and concentrations
measured.
Direct contact does not pose a skin hazard.

Air-purifying respirator, chemical protective clothing, gloves, boots, and

hard hat.
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Level D
Level D should not be worn on any site with respiratory or skin hazards.
Level D is primarily a work uniform providing minimal protection.
Level D protection is worn when:
Atmosphere contains no known hazards.
Work functions precludes the potential for unexpected exposure
to hazardous levels of any substances.

Chemical-protective clothing, boots, gloves, and hard hat.

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Ultimate Product

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Various Test Method For CPC
ASTM F1186-03 ASTM F2130-01
ASTM F1001-99a EN 943-1:2002
ASTM F739-99a EN 467:1995
ASTM F1383-99a EN374-3:1994
ASTM F1407-99a EN ISO 6529
ASTM F1194-99 ISO 6530 (1990)
ASTM F903-03 ISO 13994 (1998)
ASTM F2053-00 ISO 17491(2002)

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Further Reading
Textiles for protection Edited byRichard A. Scott Woodhead, Cambridge.
 Military textiles Edited by Eugene Wilusz Woodhead, Cambridge.
Intelligent Textiles for Personal Protection and Safety Edited by Sundaresan Jayaraman Georgia
Institute of Technology, USA Paul Kiekens Ghent University, Belgium and Ana Marija Grancaric
University of Zagreb.
Stull J O, `Selecting chemical protective clothing,' Occup Health & Safety, December 1995, 20±24.
Abbott N J (2001), `Coated fabrics for protective clothing', in Satas D and Tracton A A., Coatings
technology handbook (2nd edn), Marcel Dekker, 819±823.
Hall M E (2000a), `Finishing of technical textiles', in Horrocks A R and Anand S C, Handbook of
technical textiles, Woodhead, Cambridge.
 Mona Suri, D Rastogi, K.Khanna, “Development of protective clothing for pesticide industry: part
I”, Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research, vol.27, pp. 85-90, march, 2002.
 www. Scribd.com
 http://www.kcprofessional.com/us/kcp-brands/kleenguard/kleenguard.asp
 http://www.lakeland.com

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Be pro-active not reactive towards safety………

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