Comparative Analysis of the Thermal Insulation of Traditional and Newly Designed Protective Clothing for Foundry Workers

An objective of the undertaken research was checking the applicability of aluminized basalt fabrics for the production of clothing for foundry workers. The results of flammability, the resistance to contact, convective and radiation heat, as well as the resistance to big molten metal splashes confirmed the thesis of applicability of the packages with the use of aluminized basalt fabric content for the assumed purpose; therefore, such protective clothing was produced. Thermal comfort of foundry workers is very important and related to many factors, i.e., the structure of the protective clothing package, the number of layers, their thickness, the distance between the body and appropriate underwear. In the paper, a comparison of the results of thermal insulation measurement of two kinds of protective clothing is presented: the traditional one made of aluminized glass fabrics and the new one made of aluminized basalt fabrics. Measurements of clothing thermal insulation were conducted using a thermal manikin dressed in the protective clothing and three kinds of underwear products covering the upper and lower part of the manikin.