THE SEALAB II TRACE-CONTAMINANT PROFILE.
Abstract
Adsorption of contaminants on activated charcoal was one of the methods used to sample the atmosphere of Sealab II. The contaminant material was later recovered by slowly heating the charcoal in an evacuated system and retaining the desorbate in liquid-nitrogen-cooled traps. The desorbate mixture was resolved with a vapor-phase chromatograph. The eluted components were passed directly into a rapid-scanning mass spectrometer for positive identification. Components were also collected from the effluent of the chromatograph and identified by means of their infrared spectra. Over 30 different compounds were identified in the charcoal desorbate. Added to those already known, the total number of atmospheric contaminants which have been identified in Sealab II now amounts to 40. These include refrigerants, saturated and unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons, cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and aromatic hydrocarbons. The characteristic feature of the Sealab II contaminant profile, like that of Sealab I, was a predominance of hydrocarbon contaminants. Some of the more prominent contaminants in the Sealab II atmosphere were cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons which are not generally encountered as dominant trace contaminants in closed environmental atmospheres. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 04, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0664946
Entities
People
- Raymond A. Saunders
- Richard H. Gammon
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory