Among the exhibitors at the National Coal Show, opening today at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, is Ox-Gen, an Idaho corporation that says its breathing apparatus will supply coal miners with two hours of emergency oxygen.

	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Rob DesAulniers, national sales director for Ox-Gen, yesterday models a self-contained self-rescue unit, which can supply two hours of oxygen. The National Coal Show begins today at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Click photo for larger image.

That's double the capacity of current oxygen packs, and neatly meets the standard passed by Congress last week.

But the Ox-Gen device also weighs 15 pounds -- more than twice as much as the emergency oxygen packs miners wear on their belts -- so it would have to be stored inside the mine.

Rather than replacing the self-contained self-rescuers, or SCSRs, which miners in two recent disasters say did not work for them, the Ox-Gen self-rescuer would be an additional oxygen supply.

And there's the rub, says John G. Kovac, the scientist who has overseen the testing and engineering of SCSRs since their development in 1981.

Any major improvement in emergency oxygen devices is going to face significant hurdles, he said, starting with laws of physics and chemistry.

Unlike a computer chip, the hoses and filters in a self-rescuer can only be miniaturized so much.

Want to use lighter material? Then you risk having a device that won't hold up in the harsh environs of a working coal mine.

"There's no magic solution. We're not wizards," said Mr. Kovac, who works in the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, based in South Park.

Mine rescue teams already use longer duration self-rescuers, he added, but those have to be worn like a backpack and can weigh 30 to 40 pounds.

Still, just as previous mine tragedies led to development of closed-circuit rebreathing devices, the mining deaths in West Virginia and Kentucky this year may spur similar still-unknown innovations, said Mr. Kovac.

Ox-Gen, for example, is one of only two prototype systems that uses a mixture of sodium percarbonate and water to produce oxygen. That all but eliminates the explosion danger of having pressurized oxygen tanks stored underground.

Already in its third generation prototype since March, the Ox-Gen self-rescuer features a 17-inch canister and a plastic hood that goes over the miner's head. To keep poisonous air out, the hood has a tight rubber seal that fits around the neck. A diaphragm allows miners to talk to each other without removing the hood.

The miner would turn three keys on the canister to get oxygen: the first one activates the sodium percarbonate, the second mixes that with water and the third -- also water -- cools the 140-degree oxygen to a more tolerable 90 degrees.

The device, using similar technology to a shorter-duration oxygen generator the company makes, will be submitted for NIOSH approval this summer, according to company literature.

"We don't know what the market is, we don't know what the acceptance is," said Rob DesAulniers, Ox-Gen's national sales director. "Primarily, we want to help save lives."

While encouraging new ideas and approaches, Mr. Kovac says the most likely improvements will be incremental -- self-rescuers with docking capability, to easily replenish spent cartridges, or perhaps a hybrid of the current chemical-based system with the previous generation of devices that filtered out carbon monoxide.

Regardless, any new model will face rigorous testing and that process could take more than a year, he said.

"That is not a trivial hurdle," he said.

The National Coal Show, highlighting new technology in the coal industry, runs through noon Thursday, with more than 2,000 people expected to attend.

Today's topics include the preliminary findings of the Mine Safety Commission and a session on the capabilities and limitations of SCSRs. Tomorrow, participants will look at ways mine managers can improve training for new miners, emphasizing safety and maintenance while increasing production.