The effects of Carbon Dioxide in helmet diving and some elementary physics.

Compressed air supply to the helmet has two functions. Replinish the oxygen supply to the diver, and purge out CO2 build up. The second function is often ignored, but this is vitally important. Surface CO2 level 1-2% Symptms No effect 3-5% Deeper breathing 5-10% Confusion severe panting 10-25% Death

The maximum amount of CO2 allowed at any time should only be 5%. As the diver goes deeper the amount of air flowing into the helmet diminishes thereby flushing less stale air. Respiration supplies the body with one ingrient required to function, namely oxygen. A single breath draws in 1/9 cu ft of air which is 21% oxygen, the remaining 79% being mostly nitrogen. The body absorbes 5% of oxygen from the volume and expells out 16% oxygen. The volume remains the same as the body expels an equal amount of carbon dioxide or 5% in any volume. Type of Oxygen exertion Consumption Cubic feet/minute Resting 1/100 Standing 1/70 Walking 2 mph 1/35 3 mph 1/28 CO2 Produced Breath 1/150 1/100 1/40 1/28 Volume of CUFT Breathed a minute 1/50 1/40 1/22 1/18 1/4 5/14 5/7 25/28

Finding a safe CO2 limit for helmet divers Equation Surface percent CO in helmet= Cu Ft Min oxygen converted to CO2/ Cu Ft Min air entering helmet Assuming the pump delivers 3 cu ft min at surface. Also our diver is doing average work and consuming 1/28 cu ft, we need to figure out the maximum depth where he can perform his duties without undue panting. Remember our safe limit for CO2 is 5%. Then we substitute into the equation above along with the 1/28 figure and get the minimum delivered air which is .72. Now using Boyles Law(fig 1) find the find the depth at which 3 cu ft at surface will give you .72 cu ft delivered. It turns out to be 135 ft which is the maximum safe limit given the type of work and the vlume of air being put out by the equipment. The following table gives minimum air supplies at surface for gear used: Mask with no breathing bag/ power snorkel 2 cu ft/ min Mask with one way breathing bag(no CO2 in system) 1-1.5 Mask with breathing bag two way system 1 Helmet or mask with bag greater than lung capacity .75 1 foot of water increases ambient pressure by .445 PSI, or half a pound. Chest area of an adult male is aproximately 1/2 square foot or 72 square inches. Breathing at a depth 1 foot of water a diver needs to overcome the force of 33 lbs. Boyle's Law can be expressed using following formula: Volume @(2)= Volume @(1)X{Pressure (absolute) (1)/ Pressure (absolute) (2)}

Pressure at any depth can be easily calculated using the following formula: Pressure(psi) = .445 X Depth (feet of sea water) In fresh water replace .445 with .433 the equation returns values in'gauge pressure'. Pressure in atmospheres = .0304 X Depth in sea water +1 Pressure in atmospheres = .0295 X Depth in fresh water +1

Absolute And Gauge Pressure Depth feet meters Pressure sea level 14.7 PSI 1 BAR 33' 10m 29.4 2 66' 20m 44.1 3 99' 30m 58.8 4 The chart above may seem confusing to most divers. This chart indicates a system of measurement called absolute pressure divers are used to Gauge pressure. See chart below. Depth feet meters Pressure sea level 0 PSI 0 BAR 33' 10m 14.7 1 66' 20m 29.4 2 99' 30m 44.1 3 1 cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 lbs (1 liter weighs 1 Kg). This is true only for fresh water, salt water is slightly heavier at 64 lbs (1.025 Kg).