Objective
The aim of the project is to perfect the techniques necessary for the development of industrial diving with hydrogenated breathing mixtures :
- Research carried out on laboratory animals for definition of the maximum acceptable hydrogen concentrations to avoid narcotic effects.
- Design and construction of a gas deshydrogenation system.
- Study of compression and decompression tables for hydrogenated gas mixtures.
- Accomplishment of an experimental dive for selectiion and training of divers in view of a future actual dive at sea.
- Chemical decompression of the hyperbaric chambers by deshydrogenation of the diving breathing mixtures.
PHASE 1 :
Twelve dives were carried out at depths of from 1300 to 2000 m with 110 mice divided up into batches of 5 or 10.
- 5 helium dives (He-O2) to 10, 1500 and 2000 m.
- 7 hydrogen dives (H2-He-O2) to 1300, 1400, 1500, 1800 and 2000 m .
The scientific study was chiefly concerned with :
- The animals' behaviour
- ponderal analysis
- oxygen consumption
- tissue histology
Using a slow compression speed (around 50 m/hour), a mixture with a good dose of hydrogen (40 to 50 %) and a slow decompression speed ( 16m/hour), the mice can be compressed and decompressed without serious disorders or accidents down to depths of 1400 or 1500 metres.
Hydrogen does have an anti-HPNS effect, making it possible for living creatures to withstand very high pressure, but the dosage must be exact.
The histological investigation revealed :
a) Renal and cardiac parenchyma :
No observable change.
b) Hepatic parenchyma :
Hepatocytic alterations of the "clarification" type in one batch of mice and
of the "ballooning" type in another batch.
As the parenchyma of a third batch was perfectly normal, these alterations
can not be related to the experimental conditions.
c) Pulmonary parenchyma :
Similar modifications :
- congestion of the alveolar parietes varied according to the animals
- hypertrophy and hyperplasia of type II pneumocytes.
These modifications did not always affect the entire pulmonary parenchyma.
PHASE 2 :
The tests in laboratory of dehydrogenation by heterogen catalysis has shown the superiority of catalysis by Palladium in comparison of this by Platine.
An industrial system of gas dehydrogenation by catalytic oxydation has been developped for selective elimination of hydrogen during the decompression phases following saturated diving.
This installation has been used during the decompression of HYDRA VI and VII dives to insure the elimination of hydrogen at the speed of divers' physiological decompression without any limit found. PHASE 3 :
After completing the onshore diver selection and training dive to 520 metres, we ran a hydrogen-sensitivity test on four other divers at the beginning of 1987.
This test consisted on an onshore saturation dive to 260 metres, using a hydrox (H2-O2) mixture, with a partial pressure hydrogen of 25 bar.
The results of this test are in the process of being analysed and will be published in a separate report in the near future.
Traditional helium diving is limited by two factors :
- The High Pressure Nervous Syndrome (H. P. N. S. ) resulting from hydrostatic pressure on the central nervous system, which provokes motorial disorders.
- The gas mix density which increases in proportion to depth and makes breathing increasingly difficult for the diver.
The cumulated effects of these two factors diminish thus considerably the diver's work capacity.
The narcotic power of hydrogen tends to strongly counteract the development of H. P. N. S.
As concerns its density, the lowest amongst gases, it allows an important reduction of the voluminal mass of gas mixtures under pressure which induces much easier breathing.
The programme will take the folowing four phase :
PHASE 1 : TOXICOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Its purpose is to experimentally determine the maximum acceptable hydrogen content in respect of narcosis. The research will be conducted on small laboratory animals under extreme pressure conditions, equivalent to 1200 to2000 metres. A part of the animals will be sacrified for histological study.
PHASE 2 : DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF GAS DESHYDROGENATION SYSTEM The system will be designed after a bibliographic study of present state of the art in this subject. The actual operating system will be determined on the basis of laboratory tests results, before a full scale prototype is completed in order to decompress the chambers during the manned simulation dive to 520 metres.
PHASE 3 : STUDY OF COMPRESSION AND DECOMPRESSION TABLES FOR HYDROGENATED GAS MIXTURES
PHASE 4 : SELECTION AND TRAINING OF DIVERS AND REFINING OF DIVE PROCEDURES
Ten divers (two of whom serving as substitutes) will be chosen amongst very experienced professional divers. Eight of them will perform the experimental dive at 520 metres depth.
During this dive, they will be subjected to a complete physiological examination, under normal conditions as well as during their activity in water.
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Coordinator
13321 MARSEILLE
France
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