Quantity and Distribution of Oily Contaminants Present in Flame-resistant Thermal-protective Textiles

Maintenance of protective characteristics of flame-resist-ant (FR) textiles is essential in providing optimum protec-tion to workers in high-risk environments such as the firefighting, military, and energy sectors. Accumulation of oily contaminants on FR textiles may negate their per-formance, depending on the textile material, degree of contamination, and distribution of the contaminants in dif-ferent morphological locations on the fibers. Investigation of factors that influence the protective characteristics in the presence of various quantities of contaminant is thus critical in developing optimal thermal-protective materials for these sectors. Generally, any type of contaminant may reduce the flame resistance of a fabric depending on the level of accu-mulation. The potential flammability of a fabric is likely t