The proposed low profile SCBA would have a contoured cryogenic air dewar with a thickness of less than 10 cm, a width of less than 20 cm, and a length of less than 55 cm. The dewar would use supercritical pressure air to provide any attitude feed of the air and a capacitance quantity sensor to indicate the remaining air and trigger an alarm for low air. The cryogenic air would be used with heat exchangers to provide a water/glycol cooling of a suit worn by the person. Cooling of the person would exceed 80% of the metabolic energy produced by the user for the life of the air. This breathing/cooling system would be contained within a light weight chemical protective suit currently under development. The air would be stored cryogenically to minimize storage volume. Simplified loading systems are available so that loading can be done locally just before use, or the loading may be done with liquid air from the existing NASA/KSC liquid air system.Commercial Applications:The combined breathing/cooling/chemical system (CBCCS) would have many applications in the hazardous materials handling industry. This approximates a Class A Haz-Mat suit combined with an SCBA, but adds the body cooling to minimize both the heat stress and dehydration of the user. Fire departments, chemical industry, military, etc. use thousands of these suits per year in the US
