N O V 2 014
2
#
MAGAZINE FOR
PUBLIC PROCURERS
“ENSURING BEST PROTECTION FOR
FIREFIGHTERS”
“Innovation &
textiles”
Photo: Matthijs van der Veen, Veiligheidsregio Utrecht (NL)
ENPROTEX
Magazine for public procurers
Is a publication of the ENPROTEX
Association
More information?
http://www.enprotex.eu/
Partners
The Enprotex partners are
represented in the board of this
association by Tommy Verminck
(IBZ) and Nikoletta Nemeth (IFV).
Editors
Nikoletta Nemeth, Jyoti Mahabier
Panday & Sharanda de Jong
Design
IFV
Printing house
Opmeer BV
This magazine is owned and
controlled by ENPROTEX. If we
used your personal identifiable
information without your permission,
please contact us.
CATEGORIZED PPE
Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to:
protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other
garments or equipment designed to protect the
wearer’s body from injury. The risks addressed by
protective equipment include physical, electrical,
heat, chemicals, biohazards, and airborne particulate
matters.
Any item of PPE imposes a barrier between the
wearer/user and the working environment. It is
possible that firefighters impair their ability to
carry out their work and create significant levels
of discomfort during their activities in the field.
Good ergonomic design can help to minimise these
barriers and can therefore help to ensure safe and
healthy working conditions through the correct use
of PPE.
Personal protective equipment can be categorized
by the area of the body protected, by the types of
risks, and by the type of garment or accessory. A
single item, for example boots, may provide multiple
forms of protection: a steel toe cap and steel insoles
for protection of the feet from crushing or puncture
injuries, impervious rubber and lining for protection
from water and chemicals, high reflectivity and
heat resistance for protection from radiant heat,
and high electrical resistivity for protection from
electric shock. The protective attributes of each
piece of equipment must be compared with the risks
expected to be found in the workplace.
MAIN TOPICS
4.
PHYSIOLOGY
PERSONAL
PROTECTIVE
EQUIPMENT
ADAPTED TO
THE TASK
We’d like to acknowledge everyone
that’s made this publication
possible:
10.
HUMAN
PHYSIOLOGY
AS THE
DETERMINING
FACTOR IN PROTECTIVE
CLOTHING DESIGN
2 • MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
4
6
7
10
11
13
14
PAGE
COLOPHON
CONTENTS
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT ADAPTED TO
THE TASK
BASELAYERS CAN BE LIFESAVERS
ENSURING BEST PROTECTION FOR FIFREFIGHTERS
HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
THE EFFECTS OF UNDERSHIRTS
NEW MATERIALS FOR PROTECTIVE
CLOTHING
FAIRS AND CONGRESSES RELEVANT
FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS IN
PROTECTIVE TEXTILES
INNOVATION & TEXTILES
The Enprotex association of public procurers in
protective textiles is looking for cooperation with
all stakeholders in the protective work wear chain.
This starts with fibre producers, through spinners,
weavers and textile finishers, to work wear producers
and ends with the end-users. This is a complex chain
as production of one single product can involve 5 or
more different countries and production locations.
The procurement of products originating from such a
complex production chain is difficult.
Public procurers of protective work wear have to find the most optimal work
wear for the best price. This is again a difficult task as the specifications of
work wear are varying from task to task. An optimum between functional
properties, comfort, design and price has to be found in order to be sure that
end-users will use the protective work wear. The Enprotex association brings public procurers together in order to
exchange information and to disseminate best practices. Contacts with
stakeholders in the production chain of protective work wear is therefore
essential. Already during the Enprotex project several conferences were
organized in which procurers and producers exchanged views and discussed
about the future developments needed in order to improve the work wear.
Public procurers have a task to see whether or not the presented innovations
have an additional value in terms of functionality, cost effectiveness or
comfort for their end-users. A debate between producers and public procures
will have great importance to direct the developments in the production
chain towards the needs of the end-users. And this will result in improved
protective work wear in the years to come.
Some of the developments in the protective textiles industry are described in
this magazine. New emerging technologies like plasma technology and nano
technology have the potential to offer tremendous advantages for the users
of protective textiles. These new technologies can contribute to a higher level
of protection and at the same time improved comfort of protective textiles.
Contamination and soiling of protective textiles can be considerably reduced
due to super-hydrophobic and oleophobic surfaces and anti-microbial nano
finishes will contribute to a higher level of hygiene of the protective clothing.
And the integration of sensors in the protective clothing will give much more
information on the risks workers run during the execution of their tasks and
help them to reduce these risks. This are radical innovations in which the
protective textile sector has invested. However without procurers who want to
buy these products, the investments in such innovation are wasted.
It is the role of Enprotex to bring public procurers together and inform them
about innovation in procurement and in textiles. The 4th Enprotex conference
is an example of the cooperation between Enprotex and its members with
stakeholders in the protective textiles and clothing chain. Enprotex wishes
this is a start for a fruitful cooperation and exchange of ideas with the
European leadmarket for protective textiles and clothes.
T. Verminck
President Enprotex Association
Photo: Bas van Deelen, Pierre Kuijpers, IFV (NL)
MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
•3
PERSONAL
PROTECTIVE
EQUIPMENT
ADAPTED TO
THE TASK
Photo: Remko Schuijn (NL)
Authors: drs. Ronald Heus and Maurice Kemmeren, IFV (NL)
Fire fighters are multi-taskers. Their activities vary from
structural firefighting to wildland firefighting, technical
rescue, hazmat and/or water rescue operations. For
some of these activities they have special personal
protective equipment, like for hazmat and water rescue
operations. But most of their duties are carried out
in the protective clothing that is originally meant for
structural firefighting. The protection for this type of
activity with a high external heat load prevents from
skin burns by a thick insulating layer of fireproof
textiles. The protective properties of these textiles
improved over the past decades. However only in five
percent of their time firefighters fight structural fires
and most of the working time they perform other (high
intensity) duties with the same insulating protective
clothing that hinders heat release of the body core. So
the improved protection can hinder the effectiveness of
operations.
4 • MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
Like in many other countries in the
Netherlands for wildland firefighting,
firefighters use ‘EN469’ clothing that is
meant for structural firefighting. Although
the scope of the standard mentions that
the clothing is not meant for wildland
and most of the firefighters are unaware
of the increased risk of heat stroke. Heat
stroke can occur because of a combination
of insulating clothing, high intensity work
and a long duration of the wildland fire
fighting.
After a heat stroke firefighters have
to recover and cannot be deployed
for a longer time. Sometimes they are
more sensitive for a recurrence of heat
illnesses.
That is why it is so important that for
every type of incident a risk analysis
is performed and that protective
equipment is selected that fits to the
task and risks.
The Institute for Safety can assist the
fire brigades to select proper protective
equipment with risk assessments with
knowledge about the standards and by
supporting them with evaluation studies
to compare different types of protective
equipment.
Photo: Veiligheidsregio
Ijsselland (NL)
With specialized wildland fire fighters
an evaluation study was performed
to compare ‘EN469’ clothing with two
types of special wildland clothing. A
validated test battery developed by the
Australian Deakin University was used
to compare the clothing on standardized
wildland firefighting tasks and a heat
stress test was done in the climatic
chambers of the National Sports Centre
in the Netherlands. The environmental
conditions during the testbattery were
‘neutral’ and during the heat stress test
the airtemperature was 40°C and the
relative humidity was 40%.
The result of this study was that
firefighters by themselves experienced
the comfort of working in protective
clothing adapted to their tasks. Between
both types of wildland clothing no
significant differences were found, but
compared to the ‘EN469’ clothing people
were able to work more than twice as
long with the special manufactured
wildland clothing before they have to
stop their activties due to reaching
their physiological limits. Under the
experimental conditions people were
able to work for 1 hour (hot condition)
to 6 hours (neutral condition) with the
wildland clothing before their limits
were reached.
Based on this study we advised the
fire brigades in the Netherlands to use
the ‘EN469’ clothing for wildland fire
fighting as less as possible, but use
protective clothing fitted for the task.
The above mentioned study showed the
importance of supporting evidence for
the selection of appropriate protective
equipment
by
“
selecting the
wrong protective
clothing a heat
stroke can occur
”
Photo: Ronald Heus, IFV (NL)
MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
•5
BASELAYERS CAN BE LIFESAVERS
Author: Andy Caughey, Armadillo Merino® UK
Firefighters experience many stresses, strains and
challenges when performing firefighting duties in
personal protective equipment. PPE is an essential
component of modern day firefighting equipment
designed to save lives and reduce injuries. Extensive
research has been conducted looking at the outer
protective layers but little research has been undertaken
to determine the effectiveness of next-to-skin clothing as
part of a layered system.
Research - Next
Generation Base Layers
for Firefighters
In 2013 Guelph Humber University
in Canada researched four different
base layers during live-fire evolutions
to identify the next generation of
baselayer systems for firefighters. Four
different garments systems were tested
and compared with live physiological
monitoring and perceptual/sensorial
measurement
The research finding ranked Armadillo
Merino® as the number one choice of
next-to-skin clothing with 67% selecting
Armadillo Merino® as their first choice
and 100% as their first or second choice.
Armadillo Merino® garments don’t
melt or drip and provide natural
flame resistance up to 600C. No static
than cotton or synthetic materials,”
explained Mark Jones, CFO. “We wanted
a T-shirt style top that could be worn at
all times when on duty, without the need
to issue alternatives.”
The work of the
Buckinghamshire technical rescue staff
required base layer clothing that could
be adapted
to meet the physiological
demands of challenging environments
and differing weather conditions. The
team is part of the national Urban
Search & Rescue capability, meaning
“An emergency responder’s next-to-skin, base layer clothing must optimize the
necessary thermal protection during lives fires but also enhance thermoregulation
during recovery and non-fire related calls to reduce cumulative physiological strain,
while maintaining perceptual clothing comfort.”
generation, high UVA & UVB protection
and highly effective thermo-regulation
in both hot and cold conditions. Sweat is
actively managed in both the vapor and
liquid state keeping users comfortable
while preventing odour production and
helping to maintain a more stable core
body temperature.
Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire
and Rescue Service chose Armadillo
Merino® to supply a head-to-toe
clothing system in the UK. “We were
looking for base layer garments which
had fewer limitations
and challenges
they can be deployed to incidents
anywhere in the UK for extended
periods of time.
The trials found the Armadillo Merino
garments offered a higher level of
flame resistance than existing nextto-skin clothing. The outcome of these
trials was crucial in the purchase
decision, stated Jones. “After a series
of extensive and punishing wearer
trials, the Armadillo Merino garments
outperformed the cotton and synthetic
alternatives, providing a good solution
on the grounds of effectiveness and
wearer comfort.”
“Whilst there are less expensive
garments available and money is always
tight in this service, we felt that we
needed a greater focus on improving
base layer clothing in addition to
outerwear PPE,” Jones explained.
“This represents a significant
investment to improve the health, safety
and welfare of our specialist staff that
fits well with our ethos of seeking high
quality to achieve the best value over
time
Photo: Andy Caughey,
Armadillo Merino® (UK)
“the most effective way
to test is an independent
laboratory”
Photo: John Morton (UK)
emergency condition that they escape
with their garment unbreached and
intact? These pictures show two jackets
burned at the same test temperatures
and how they were after the testing,
which one would you want to wear?
ENSURING BEST PROTECTION FOR
FIREFIGHTERS
Author: Ian Moses, Director of Scotfire Safety
Solutions and served with Grampian Fire and
Rescue Service for 32 years.
Photo: Bas van Deelen /
Piere Kuijpers IFV (NL)
It’s all about protection
of the wearer, not the
price, not the colour, not
even compliance to the
standards. The focus needs
to be on whether the
PPE he or she is wearing
gives the best possible
level of protection in the
event that a firefighter
does everything right and
everything goes wrong.
There is a tendency to focus on
compliance to standards, where in fact
most of the tests carried out are based
or reproducibility as opposed to real life
situations. So you may buy a product
that ticks all the boxes as far as the
product standard is concerned, but
offers less than the protection that the
wearer would deem as a requirement
and expects you to provide. When
specifying your garment, it’s imperative
that the protection starts on the layer
that is first impacted by the hazard.
Should this fail, then every component
under it will be compromised.
I believe that in order to see how well
PPE performs the most effective way to
test is by using mannequin testing EN/
ISO 13506 in an independent laboratory.
It’s a robust test, but it gives an excellent
view of how garments will perform in
emergency situations.
It shows how heat is transferred
through the garment, how quickly the
burns take place, with an idea of the
burn locations and percentages. More
importantly, it shows whether the
garment holds together once exposed
to heat and flame. Will the outer shell
of the garment retain its strength after
the exposure and what happens to other
components in the garments should the
outer shell fail?
Failure is a real possibility when using
some products, not because they are bad
or faulty, but because their threshold for
failure is less than alternative products
that are readily available. Other testing
such as “Dynamic Flame Test” will
determine the strength of textile once
exposed to flame and if you have that
test carried out, you will be amazed how
quickly some products fail.
Surely it’s of prime importance that
should a firefighter be exposed to
extreme levels of heat and flame during
I cannot emphasise enough the
importance of outer shell integrity,
which is the first line of protection.
For example, In December 2011 a young
firefighter from New York was trapped
in a building that was well alight,
someone took a video and pictures of
the firefighter as he stood at the window
awaiting rescue, Its impossible to
imagine just how hot it was as he stood
there. Eventually a ladder was extended
to the window of the building and the
firefighter was able to escape, however
it was over 30 seconds from the time
the ladder was extended until he came
out the window. It was very noticeable
that he was on fire and burning as
he escaped. Had he been wearing a
garment where the outer shell failed
before or during his escape, the outer
shell would have been long gone and
his burns greatly increased. I have no
doubt that he would not have survived.
The picture shows just how desperate a
situation he was in. However he survived
he with non-life threatening injuries.
I have heard all the arguments about
over protection of firefighters, heat
stress, heart attacks, physiological effect
of wearing insulated garments, and the
big one - that we don’t go to many fires
these days. But many of the problems
associated with these issues have more
to do with the fire ground management,
age, lifestyle and many other factors.
Firefighting is dangerous, always was
and always will be, fire are burning
hotter and faster than ever before and
not only do we have a legal obligation,
but we also have a moral obligation to
ensure that the protection we give to
our wearers is the best that is currently
available
MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
•7
“1973
Marine Vliegkamp
Valkenburg
Even back in the days tough
jobs ask for protective
clothing
”
Photo: Bas van Deelen IFV (NL)
HUMAN
PHYSIOLOGY
Prof. Dr. Hein Daanen
Photo: IFV (NL)
AS THE DETERMINING
FACTOR IN PROTECTIVE
CLOTHING DESIGN
an interview with Prof. Dr. Hein Daanen about fashion,
technique and human factors science.
Author: drs. Ronald Heus, IFV (NL)
Interviewed by: Jyoti Mahabier Panday, IFV (NL)
Protective clothing is designed to protect humans
against risks like fire, chemicals or blunt impact.
Although protective clothing diminishes the effects
of external risks, it may hinder people in functioning
and it may also introduce new (internal) risks.
Manufacturers are often not aware of the seriousness
of those risks. Prof. Daanen, human movement
scientist, postulates that knowledge on human
physiology must be part of protective clothing
design. After a career in protective clothing research
that started about 25 years ago at TNO (NL) he is
entitled to say things like that.
10 • MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
Besides his function as principal
scientist at TNO, Hein is professor in
thermal physiology at the faculty of
Human Movement sciences of the VU
University in Amsterdam. Hein is also
professor in Fashion Research and
Technology at the Amsterdam Fashion
Institute (AMFI) of the Amsterdam
University of Applied Sciences. Last
but not least he has his own company
Sizing Sciences that assist manufactures
in their clothing sizing processes to
produce better fitting clothing.
Hein says that it is good to integrate
sciences as thermal physiology,
anthropometrics, technique and fashion
to optimize protective clothing. With
different examples Hein illustrates
the advantage of this approach. As a
professor in thermal physiology at the
VU University he let his PhD-students
experience the importance of this field
of expertise in daily practice. One of
his students, Koen Levels, graduated on
individual coping with heat stress by fire
fighters. Protective clothing is a serious
component in the thermal load and thus
a limiting factor in firefighter operations.
New sensor techniques can be used
to assist firefighters in determining
their duration limited exposure (DLE)
real-time during operations. With
this knowledge they can ‘play’ with
their work intensity (pacing) to extend
or reduce DLE. In combination with
knowledge of human physiology
material technology can be used to cool
firefighters and lengthen the duration
of work time. Hein participated in the
European ‘PROSPIE’ project (www.
prospie.eu) in which protective clothing
was developed that yields a warning
when thermal tolerance is exceeded.
In this context Hein also mentioned
the important work of Prof. Dr. George
“It
Havenith of Loughborough University
where with special techniques sweating
of the human body is mapped. With this
knowledge you can produce clothing
with special properties on different
spots of the human body to optimize
cooling by evaporation of sweat. This
technique is already considered for use
in sports clothing by e.g. Adidas, Nike
and Decathlon. It will be a good step to
convince the manufactures of protective
clothing to adopt similar techniques
for optimisation of their products.
Important is that they consider
protective clothing as a system and not
as a series of separate items. Hein thinks
that this integration of fields of expertise
will develop and is leading to better
individually adapted protective clothing
systems.
At the AMFI Hein is working with a
team of researchers on virtual design
of clothing and smart garments
using a multidisciplinary approach.
An important issue to solve is that
is good to integrate sciences as
thermal physiology, anthropometrics,
technique and fashion to optimize
protective clothing
”
smart protective clothing has to
be in compliance with European
legislation. European standards will
help the manufacturers to produce
certified products. However the present
standardisation is not yet prepared to
the use of new techniques integrated in
textiles, because textiles and electronics
make use of different European
standards under CEN, CENELEC
and ETSI. It is expected that close
collaboration between the different
European standardisation will soon
make an end to this disharmony. If we
then also develop functional standards
instead of technical standards as it is
now we open the door to innovations
in protective clothing. The European
project ‘smart@fire’ (www.smartatfire.
eu) is according to Hein a first good
step forward is this process. Especially
precommercial procurement (PCP) helps
manufacturers to develop innovative
products taking into account necessary
research and standardization of the
products.
Another problem of the use of
electronics mentioned by Hein is
washing of the clothing. Electronics
are ‘allergic’ for water and also the
mechanical impact on the clothing
during washing is a problem for the
electronics in textiles. Working on other
cleaning techniques may help in solving
that problem, but that is a solution
on the long-term because you have to
replace the washing machines for other
cleaning machines.
For the near future Hein foresees that
despite the past period of 15 years off
experimenting with smart garments in
the coming 5 years commercial products
will be produced for the market
THE EFFECTS OF UNDERSHIRTS
ON RELEVANT PSYCHO PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS DURING
EXERCISE, IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT WHILE WEARING
ing. Harold Mugie MSc, Brandweer Hollands Midden,
PROTECTIVE GEAR Authors:
drs. Eric Mol, Amsterdam–Amstelland and drs. Ronald Heus, IFV (NL)
ABSTRACT
One of the aspects in the work field
of the Knowledge centre of Hollands
Midden Fire Service is the safety and
comfort of the firefighting personnel.
One specific question that was
identified was, what were the effects
of wearing undershirts beneath the
standard EN469 tested Fire Fighting
suit?
In a study carried out by the University
of Applied Sciences of Arnhem and
Nijmegen (HAN), three different fabric
types of undershirts were tested. The
research focused on the effects each of
these shirts had on heat storage in the
human body, specifically temperature,
moisture sensation and ratings of
perceived exertion (RPE Scale, Borg 1998)
The results of this specific test situation,
showed no statistically significant
effect of underwear on heat storage,
temperature and moisture sensation or
ratings of perceived exertion (RPE)
Introduction and
problem statement
One of the roles of the Knowledge
Centre of Hollands-Midden Fire Service,
is to identify existing problems within
the fire service sector and provide a
structured approach to problem solving,
in order to support the fire fighters in
their jobs. Currently the topic of heat
MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
• 11
Photo: Harold Mugie MSc, Brandweer Hollands Midden (NL)
“To
determine the thermal effect of
wearing different types of undershirts
under standard firefighting suits
”
stress in relation to personal protection
has become an important issue for the
fire fighters. To answer to this concern
the Knowledge Centre requested that
a comparative study be conducted to
assist them in making an informed
decision as to the relevancy of wearing
undershirts under their protective
clothing with regard to personal safety
and comfort.
Goal
To determine the thermal effect of
wearing different types of undershirts
under standard firefighting suits.
Test set up
The tests were carried out in a climate
chamber (40 degrees Celsius and
40% relative humidity) by eight fire
fighters walking for 40 minutes on a
treadmill at a speed of 5 km/hr each
time wearing one of the three different
t-shirts respectively made out of Cotton,
a Merino wool blend and a sports
compression shirt. Each fire fighter
tested all of the shirts while wearing
the standard issued EN469 certified
turnout gear. The order of the trials
was determined by a pre-test devised
randomization scheme. They all were
wearing standard brigade issued cotton
blend station uniform pants. Heart rate,
core temperature and skin temperature
were measured in addition to the weight
of the participants and their clothing
before and after the test. Heat storage in
the body and physiological strain index
were calculated. Subjective values were
based on the Borg6-20 RPE scale and a
ISO-standards based visual scale, for
temperature and moisture sensation.
The results
The heat storage in the body was
calculated using the difference in
core and skin temperature at the
beginning and at the end of the tests
with a formula from Human thermal
10
9
8
Figure: The physiological
strain index for walking in
the heat with standardized
turnout gear and three
different types of undershirts
Physiological Strain Index
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Cotton
Sports
Merino
environments (K.Parsons, 2002). As
a secondary effect, the Physiological
Strain Index was calculated using the
heart rate and core temperature values
(Moran and Pandolf, 1999).
The mean values and standard
deviation(SD) calculated for heat
storage were 5,6(0,7),5,9(0,6)and5,4(0,5)
respectively for the cotton, sports and
Merino blend T-shirt. The mean values
and standard deviation(SD) calculated
for the Physiological Strain Index were
respectively 6,2(0,4)6,9(1,5) and 7,0(1,2).
It can therefore be stated that to obtain
these values the participants had to
perform at a very high level of exertion.
Conclusion and
recommendations
Based on this study, it can be concluded
that no differences in thermal load
have been demonstrated between three
types of undershirts under the present
turnout gear.
Other considerations for the Fire
Services in order to make a decision
might be the consideration of cost
effectiveness and duration
Photo: Matthijs van der Veen, Veiligheidsregio Utrecht (NL)
NEW MATERIALS FOR
PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
Author: Anton Luiken, Alcon Advies BV, Wierden (NL), [email protected]
There are many developments in the textile and clothing
industry concerning textile materials and the finishing
of the materials. The focus in the developments is on
more sustainable materials and improved performance.
The topic of more sustainable materials was covered in
the previous edition of this magazine. In this article the
focus is on improved performance.
Thermal insulation
In clothing and footwear used in
extreme conditions, thermal insulation
is essential. The best insulation is a
stagnant layer of air. In clothing this is
realized by a non-woven felt, mostly of
hollow polyester fibres. A totally new
material is now entering the market:
aerogels. This is a nano-technology
product: aerogel insulations are
nanoporous materials comprised of an
amorphous silica gel impregnated into
nonwoven flexible substrates. Even a
very thin layer of some millimeters
of this aerogel non-woven has great
insulating properties. The material is
heat resistant as well as cold resistant
and resistant against compression.
Looks like a good solution for work
wear in extreme conditions without the
necessity to wear very bulky clothing.
More info: http://www.
innovationintextiles.com/protective/
aerotherm-aerogel-insulation-bringsspace-technology-to-everydaylife/#sthash.zawRRIbI.dpuf
Finishing fabrics by
plasma technology
Plasma technology is an emerging
technology to apply very thin layers
of functional chemicals on surfaces.
A lot of research has been done to use
plasma technology in textile finishing as
there are many advantages. By plasma
technology many finishing effects can
be realized by treatment of the fabric
surface, like hydro- and oleophobicity or
make the fabric extremely hydrophilic.
Plasma technology can be applied at
all kinds of fibres including polyester
and cotton. First commercial plasma
treated products are on the market,
like army work wear and boots, by the
so-called ion-mask technology. The
advantages claimed are protective
properties, breathable, lightweight,
durable and environmental friendly due
to the use of very little chemicals and
energy during the finishing process.
Photo: Martin de Jongh (NL)
They have focused on flame retardant
finishes for especially synthetic fabrics.
Their technology was first developed for
military clothing, but is now available
for applications outside the military
sector.
The basis of the technology is the solgel, in which nano-particles are formed
during processing by adding the right
chemicals together. In this way several
finish effects can be realized (often
with improved properties compared
to traditional chemistry, or completely
new effects) like flame retardancy, antimicrobial properties, abrasion resistance
and hydro- and oleo phobic properties.
And this are all important properties for
protective clothing!
More info: http://www.utwente.nl/ctw/
efsm/advanbiotex/excellenceteam/
btomsic/proceedings3.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=QkCLLJzkPbU
http://www.lanl.gov/about/stories/
plasma-technology-for-textilefinishing-applications.php
http://www.isca.in/IJES/Archive/v2/
i4/7.ISCA-RJEngS-2013-58.pdf
Finishing by
nanotechnology
It is well known that for many textile
finishing operations the surface of
fibres have to be covered. When using
nano-particles an optimal surface to
weight ratio can be obtained; that is
with a minimal amount of chemicals
a complete surface coverage can be
realized. A company which has great
experience in this field is Alexium.
Digital application of
chemicals
Digital ink-jet technology is becoming
mature for use in the textile industry.
Beside dyestuffs, a lot of effort is
undertaken to apply other kind
of chemicals to a textile surface.
Functionalization of protective textiles
by ink-jet is a clean technology by
which protective textiles can be finished
with much less chemicals and energy.
This offers the opportunity to use new
functional chemicals too expensive to
use in traditional finishing.
Digital finishing technology fits exactly
in the digitalization of the whole
MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
• 13
textile and clothing chain. It offers
opportunities for mass customization
and just in time production. Also new
combinations of finishes are possible
and hence new combined functionalities
can be created on the fabric surface. It
is foreseen that integration of digital
finishing and clothing production
will result in new types of protective
clothing, where the protection is only
present where it is needed (and not in
the full piece of clothing). This will result
in a reduction of costs and a further
optimization between protection and
comfort.
Concluding remarks
More info: http://ec.europa.eu/
programmes/horizon2020/en/news/
digital-technology-transformingtextile-industry
http://www.tencate.com/txtures/038summer-2014/from-technical-textilesto-smart-textiles.aspx
Many technological innovations are
tested in the protective textile industry.
A commercial breakthrough is needed
for the further development of these
technologies. Public procurers can
play an important role to act as codevelopers and launching customers.
This will focus the R&D efforts on
specific products (instead of general
development) and will help to introduce
the new technologies in a much earlier
stage to the market
FAIRS AND CONGRESSES RELEVANT
FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS IN
PROTECTIVE TEXTILES
There are many research groups
wording on innovations in textile
materials, textile processes, product
development and testing. Industries
most often present their innovations
on fairs. An overview of some of the
upcoming fairs and congresses and
what to expect there is given below.
Expoprotection
November 4-6, 2014, Paris France
Expoprotection is the fair for personal
protective equipment. A large collection
of protective clothing, shoes, gloves
and much more is exhibited. There are
special pavilions were dedicated lectures
are given.
MORE INFO
http://www.expoprotection.com/
Aachen Dresden International
Textile conference
November 27-28, 2014 Dresden,
Germany
In this 2 day conference developments
in protective textiles and finishing
technology for protective textiles are
one of the focus points.
February 10-12, 2015, Miami,USA
The RISE conference is dedicated to the
developments in non-woven technology.
MORE INFO
http://www.aachen-dresden-itc.de/pdf_
downloads/AD-ITC_Programm_2014.pdf
http://www.inda.org/inda-events/
events-calendar/event_items/rise2014/?instance_id=#sthash.sFxso64u.
dpuf
ISPO
Techtextil/Avantex
February 5-8, 2015 Munich, Germany
May 4-7, 2015, Frankfurt , Germany
ISPO is the international fair for sport
goods. Many of the innovations in sport
clothing are presented at this fair. It is
well known that the advances in sport
clothing are a source of inspiration for
the developers of functional protective
textiles.
Techtextil is a fair for technical textiles
and nonwovens. Focus is on many
aspects of technical textiles including
protective clothing. Part of the Techtextil
is the Avantex fair, where textile
research institutes and companies
show (prototypes of) smart wearable
protective textiles.
MORE INFO
MORE INFO
http://munich.ispo.com/en/index.html
14 • MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
RISE Research, Innovation &
Science for Engineered Fabrics
Conference
Parallel to the fair, there is also the
Techtextil /Avantex congress, focusing on
innovations in textile research.
MORE INFO
http://techtextil.messefrankfurt.com/
frankfurt/en/besucher/messeprofil.html
Interschutz
June 8-14, 2015, Hannover, Germany
INTERSCHUTZ has grown to become
the world’s leading exhibition for fire
prevention, disaster relief, rescue and safety
and security.
MORE INFO
http://www.interschutz.de/home
A+A, Safety, Security and Health at Work
October 27-30, 2015, Dusseldorf, Germany
Fair and congress dedicated to protective
work wear.
Photo: Matthijs van der Veen, Veiligheidsregio Utrecht (NL)
MORE INFO
http://www.aplusa.de/cipp/md_aplusa/
custom/pub/content,oid,11680/lang,2/
ticket,g_u_e_s_t/src,profile/~/A_A_2015.
html
A number of fairs with respect to fire
fighting, equipment and PPE, are listed
in http://www.tradefairdates.com/FireFighting-Safety-Equipment-Trade-ShowsY111-S1.html . Most of these fairs are
organized in the USA and Germany.
CURRENT
EUROPEAN
TENDERS FOR
PROTECTIVE
TEXTILES
www.ted-europa.eu
MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC PROCURERS
Photo: Martin de Jongh (NL)
• 15