Submarine escape breathing air

Abstract

Recent research has even further emphasized the physiological dangers to which man is exposed when breathing gases at increased tensions. If he breathes air his activity under water is greatly limited by the problems of supply and compressed air illness. The latter is due to the formation of bubbles of nitrogen in the body on return to normal atmosphere. If he breathes oxygen, then he is in grave danger of oxygen poisoning, with convulsions, even at relatively shallow depths (Donald, 1947). During the recent war, mixtures of nitrogen and oxygen were employed for important work where the diver wished to go to considerable depths while carrying his own gases. These mixtures were varied in composition and rate of supply so that oxygen poisoning was avoided, and immediate rapid surfacing was possible, without compressed air illness occurring. However, this ingenious compromise is limited in its application, for as greater depths are reached, the oxygen has to be greatly reduced to avoid convulsions. The resultant rise in the proportion of nitrogen being breathed causes bubble formation in any but the shortest exposures. It is to be doubted whether the maintenance and meticulous supervision required, when using mixtures, will allow the use of these in the more normal conditions of peace-time. It has become increasingly apparent that the prolonged underwater survival of men requires pressure-withstanding devices in which he can exist at normal physiological tensions, i.e. atmospheric pressure. The rigid diving suit and submersible chambers, such as the bathysphere, are in their infancy; but the submarine, where the same conditions apply, is now a highly successful and developed method of underwater existence and locomotion. The further evolution of these devices, and of the submarine, depends mainly on engineering advances and not upon attempting to extend the comparatively rigid limits imposed by human physiology. The maintenance of a healthy atmosphere within a submarine is again a chemical and engineering problem which is capable of solution and constant improvement.