Thermal protection in liferafts: assessment of occupant heat balance and development of performance criteria

• Main Authors: Mak, L., Kuczora, A., Evely, K-A., Boone, J., Basset, F., Ducharme, M., Brown, R., Farnworth, B., Cheung, S., MacKinnon, S.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: National Research Council of Canada. Institute for Ocean Technology 2009
• Subjects: inflatable life raft; engineering human factors; thermal; protection; Newfoundland; Canada
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4224/18227279; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/ft/?id=dbd6856d-b5f0-4342-9f6e-515ef1ffe86e; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=dbd6856d-b5f0-4342-9f6e-515ef1ffe86e; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=dbd6856d-b5f0-4342-9f6e-515ef1ffe86e

Inflatable liferafts are currently used worldwide as a means of evacuation and survival from almost all ocean-going vessels, regardless of their size and purpose. This ranges from fishing and other commercial vessels with small crew sizes to offshore oil installations and passenger ships with thousands of persons onboard. While International Maritime Organization (IMO) standards currently require inflatable life raft components to “provide insulation” or “be sufficiently insulated”, no performance criteria accompany these requirements (IMO, 1996). This report outlines the methodology and results from an engineering and human factors research project which investigated the gaps in knowledge surrounding inflatable liferaft performance with respect to occupant thermal protection in cold environmental conditions. The research objectives of this project were to: 1. Develop thermal protection criteria for inflatable life rafts assuming otherwise unprotected occupants. 2. Propose an objective methodology for testing inflatable life raft thermal protection performance. 3. Develop tools for Search and Rescue (SAR) planners to predict survival times of liferaft occupants. 4. Provide guidance to training authorities and manufacturers. The research was conducted at the National Research Council’s Institute for Ocean Technology in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. This world-class facility allowed an interdisciplinary team of researchers to systematically examine the environmental, human and technological factors related to heat exchange within a liferaft-occupant system. This report details experimental protocols, empirical research findings and physical modelling approaches considered over a three-year period to address the project objectives. The project was undertaken in a multi-phased approach. A phase-by-phase summary of the project findings is provided below, followed by overall project findings and recommendations. Phase 1 Phase 1 was designed as a one-week pilot experiment with human subjects, aimed at ...