Performance Comparison of Second-Generation Oxygen Self-Rescuers

摘要

A performance study of second-generation oxygen self-rescuers approved for use mostly in U.S. underground coal mines was undertaken by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) to assess present technology. It provides a side-by-side comparison for the benefit of consumers--the mine operators--and a tool for evaluating apparatus by their performance characteristics. The apparatus were tested on a breathing and metabolic simulator in USBM life support laboratories. Parameters monitored were inhaled levels of CO2 and O2, inhaled wet-and dry-bulb temperatures, and breathing pressures. The metabolic demand on the apparatus represented the average demand of the 50th-percentile miner performing a 60-min, man-test 4 as described under 42 CFR 84. Apparatus service life, quantity of usable O2, and averages and peaks of monitored parameters are presented.