For the first time since Korea’s first fire station, Gyeongseong Fire Station (now Jongno Fire Station in Seoul), was opened in 1925, Korean firefighters will wear special fire suits made with Korean technology.
The new suits are made from the super-fiber Meta Aramid, which Huvis (CEO / Yoo, Bea Keun), the leading cutting-edge chemical materials company, succeeded in commercializing for the first time in Korea in 2009.
The Aramid fiber is divided into Meta Aramid, which is highly thermotolerant and flame-resistant (i.e. does not catch fire at 400˚C) and Para Aramid, which has more than 5 times the strength of steel. The special fire suit is made from a mix of the two fibers, with Huvis substituting Meta Aramid with its own product.
The special fire suits, which firefighters wear when extinguishing a fire, must be able to withstand a temperature of 400℃, given that they have to deal with infernos raging at more than 300℃. That’s why the existing outer fabric was made from PBI/PBO, as it offers outstanding thermotolerance and flame resistance. As these materials were not previously produced in Korea, they were able to be purchased only through exclusive agencies. As a consequence, there has been a great deal of criticism about the price and delivery. The many issues this problem has raised led to permission being granted for the use of other materials capable of performing equally as well. This allowed fire suit makers and Huvis to conduct RD, the fruit of which is the newly developed fire suit that is less expensive to produce, yet offers all the performance of existing fire suits.
The special fire suit consists of an outer and inner skin. The outer skin is made from both Meta Aramid and Para Aramid, whereas the inner skin is made from 100% Meta Aramid. It has three layers: the outshell, the lining and the middle layer. Each fire suit is made from Meta Aramid 70% and Para Aramid 30%, with the Meta Aramid being made by Huvis, and the Para Aramid being imported, as the Huvis Para Aramid is currently in the pilot stage of development. That is, Huvis is conducting tests in order to ultimately develop a fire suit that is made 100% with materials in Korea by the end of this year.
Special fire suits must meet the quality standards of the Korea Fire Institute. They must meet various standards: e.g. they must be heat-resistant enough not to be deformed even if they are surrounded by 400˚C metal balls, thermotolerant enough not to be shrunk in hot air, and flame-retardant enough that the after flame can be put out in just 2 seconds without spreading beyond a 10cm radius. The Huvis Meta Aramid finished fabric passed all these tests.
The company expects to see demand for 20,000 fire suits this year, and has finished supplying enough Meta Aramid materials for 10,000 fire suits. Special fire suits will be made from this Meta Aramid and delivered to fire stations nationwide.
“Domestic materials technology is now so advanced that it can stand comparison with that of global materials manufacturers.” said Bae-keun, Yoo, CEO of Huvis. “We will make further efforts to develop state-of-the-art materials and contribute to Korea’s ascent as a powerhouse in materials.”
Huvis is a joint venture established in 2000 when SK Chemicals and Samyang Corporation spun off their fiber materials divisions. In February 2012 the company was listed on the stock market. Last year Huvis acquired the No. 1 power plant water treatment company Hankook Jungsoo Industries for KRW131.8 billion, renamed it Huvis Water, and made inroads into the water treatment market in an effort to conquer the materials business.
