Posted June 28, 2016

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – The AATCC’s “Shining a Light on Flammability in Textile Applications,” to be held September 21-22, in Cary, N.C., aims to address numerous topics on textile flammability.

Textile combustion can originate from electric arc, actual flame or a variety of other sources of heat. The traditional nomenclature of “flame-retardant textiles” is not necessarily the appropriate term to describe today’s textile materials used in the personal protective market, commercial markets and in a wide range of military applications. There are many textiles that do not contain “flame-retardant” chemistries or may not truly be retardant textiles. A fiber, yarn or textile web (woven, knit or nonwoven) can be chemically modified, synthesized or engineered to meet specific requirements as exemplified by the diverse products currently in the marketplace.

The differences in inherent fiber and “topical” treatments need to be explained and expanded upon to be inclusive of all of the additional methods of engineering textiles that resist or retard combustion.

This program is being developed to address the state-of-the-“art” or-“engineering” of this timely topic.

Confirmed presentations to date include:
 

• We Had an Accident at our Facility Recently …  Denise Statham, Bulwark Protective Wear;

• An Introduction to Fire Science and Flame-Resistant Fabric Technologies – Drew Child, Milliken & Company

• Flame Resistant Product Development: A Road Map to Success – Lonnie Braxton, Coats;

• Insights and Perspectives to the Dyeing of Engineered Flame-Resistant Fibers and Fabrics – Nelson Houser, M. Dohmen USA;

• Cotton Flammability Issues: An Update – Mary Ankeny, Cotton Incorporated;

• Fire Retardant Coatings – Reggie Didier, GTI Chemical Solutions;

• Water-Based Flame-Retardant Nanocoatings from Environmentally-Benign Ingredients – Jaime C. Grunlan, Texas A&M University;

• Flame Resistant Fabrics Testing and Significance – Dominique Adams, TenCate Protective Fabrics;

• Safety of the Home & Work Environment: Focus on Fire Test Methods – Dwayne Sloan, UL LLC;

• Advances in Testing for Thermal Protective Performance Using Instrumented Manikins – Roger Barker, Textile Protection and Comfort Center (TPACC), North Carolina State University;

• Duration and Energy of Hydrocarbon Flash Fires – Drew Child, Milliken & Company;

• A Case Study: Review of Flammability Product Testing, the Similarities and Differences – Ellen Roaldi, Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services;