Evaluation of Chemical Protective Clothing: A Comparative Study of Breakthrough Times with Sulphur Mustard and a Simulant, 1,3-Dichloropropane

  • Beer Singh Defence Research & Development establishment, Gwalior
  • M.V.S. Suryanarayana Defence Research & Development establishment, Gwalior
  • S.M. Baronia Defence Research & Development establishment, Gwalior
  • N.B.S.N. Rao Defence Research & Development establishment, Gwalior
  • V.S. Tripathi Defence Materials & Stores Research & Development Establishment, Kanpur
  • Darshan Lal Defence Materials & Stores Research & Development Establishment, Kanpur
  • A.K. Sen Defence Materials & Stores Research & Development Establishment, Kanpur
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.50.3339
Keywords: Non woven fabrics, Carbon coated fabrics, CW agents, Sulphur mustard

Abstract

Carbon-coated non-woven fabrics were evaluated against vesicant sulphur mustard and l,3-dichloropropane (DCP). Breakthrough times of these chemicals were compared and
fitted in a linear equation. A correlation, better than 95 per cent was obtained. It is recommended that DCP be used in the valuation and quality control of fabric in the chemical protective clothing manufacturing industries to reduce the exposure and risks of handling lethal chemicals. However,-the clothing may be challenged with actual CW agents to determine their protective potentials, in the laboratory. Diffusion coefficients for DCP were also computed from the breakthrough data for carbon-coated fabric of different grades.

Author Biography

Beer Singh, Defence Research & Development establishment, Gwalior
Dr Beer Singh obtained his PhD from University of Delhi. He joined DRDO at the Defence Research & Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior,in 1998. His areas of research include: defences against chemical warfare agents and future carbons. He has developed impregnation process for active carbon for use in NBC filteration system, impregnation process for silica gel to detect CW agents in atmospheric air, NBC callister for use with gas mask and evaluation methods for the protection equipment.

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Published
2013-01-01
How to Cite
Singh, B., Suryanarayana, M., Baronia, S., Rao, N., Tripathi, V., Lal, D., & Sen, A. (2013). Evaluation of Chemical Protective Clothing: A Comparative Study of Breakthrough Times with Sulphur Mustard and a Simulant, 1,3-Dichloropropane. Defence Science Journal, 50(1), 51-57. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.50.3339
Issue
Vol 50 No 1
Section
Armaments & Explosives
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