Air Purity in Diving from Submarines. 1. Review and Preliminary Analyses

Abstract

The increased need for divers to operate from nuclear submarines has drawn attention to the purity of submarine air for use by divers. A review of the literature on submarine atmospheres leads to a serious concern about CO2 and a lesser concern about other inorganic, hydrocarbon, and halocarbon gases. A survey of yearly records of the levels of 14 gases obtained from 32 submarines demonstrates substantial variation among boats, and time-to-time variation within a single boat. Laboratory analysis of 21 submarine air bank samples obtained from a single boat over a 6 month period reinforces the concern for CO2, and shows measurable levels (>0.1 ppm) of at least 8 other organic gases.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA245951

Entities

People

  • E. T. Flynn
  • P. K. Weathersby
  • R. S. Lillo

Organizations

  • Naval Medical Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alkanes
  • Biomedical Research
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Carbon Monoxide
  • Chemical Analysis
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Detectors
  • Dielectric Gases
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Science
  • Monitoring
  • Navy
  • Nuclear Powered Submarines
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Standards

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Oceanography.
  • Theoretical Analysis.
  • Underwater engineering and Marine Technology.