Hi, Patrick, Bill, et al . . .
I did not realize Rick and Joe were
using constant air flow in their ambient designs. Now I see why their hull
interiors are almost devoid of water vapour.
Regarding
constant flow: I'm not sure if Joe is
intent on using constant flow in his sub or if he was
using the term by way of explanation.
My ambient will use a bank or manifold, if you
will, of regulators. There will be no constant flow. The
regs I'm talking about are standard scuba and are sometimes referred to as
DEMAND regs (as opposed to CONSTANT FLOW). By only demanding air
when you need it you save your supply.
As Rick pointed out earlier this can
be handled by dessicant absorbant which is a powder which absorbs water.and
basically wicks water out of the air. The air in their tanks is much
dryer than normal air also so this helps too.
I've used the
term "bone-dry" in previous posts and, as Bill has
pointed out, there really is little likelihood of anything being bone-dry
in a sub cabin. I spoke in relative terms. Desert air is considered
"bone-dry" yet actually contains a significant amount of water vapour.
Just ask anyone who's had to do a miliary survival course.
Magiacl Child's system will
be similar to using Barolyme to absorb CO2. Initially I had intended
on venting our (breath) exhalations directly from our oral/nasal masks to the
surrounding water. I've since experienced an epiphany and am now
thinking of simply exhaling straight into the cabin. In this scenario, the
dessicant would simply absorb the water vapour from the cabin air (but wouldn't
purify it). The cabin's overpressure valve would occasionally burp the
excess pressure to the surrounding water.
The down side, of course, is that the cabin
air would be perennially stale and would support us for less time
should we need to stop using our masks. Exhaled CO2 still contains a lot
of O2 since the body doesn't metabolise all the oxygen. So, there is still
some breathing room so to speak. Mind you, that's what pony bottles are
for.
What all ambients have in common
whether they have an opening to the water (like in an upside down glass) and use
the rising water level to trip a float, valve or sensor which then activates their air tanks to
vent, or whether they are closed to the water and
use a valve or sensor, is that they use internal air pressure to push back
against the external water pressure
A sealed
cockpit obviates the need for a sensor of any kind since the regulators
themselves do the job for you (hence, the term "regulator"). The demand
regulator is a valve in itself. The rubber diaphram in front
of the mouth piece physically pushes a lever that opens the
valve.
I'd like to add to this by saying that a semi-dry ambient can also
use this system. How? Once the required amount of
ballast water is admitted, you seal off the cockpit so that the regs take
over. Open the valve, the cabin is exposed to surrounding water and the
regs are disabled by default. Close the valve, and the cabin pressure is
now isolated and available to the regs.
Confused yet?
Rick L
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