PHS 1110 UNIT VI ARTICLE REVIEW

UNIT VI ARTICLE REVIEW

ED LINK’S SUBMERGED PORTABLE INFLATABLE DWELLING (SPID)

COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

Summary

In 1956 Edwin A. Link built a submersible decompression chamber (SDC) to perform tests to prove that divers could live underwater for long periods of time instead of having to decompress after each day. The SDC that he designed was an aluminum cylinder. The SDC served as place the divers could occupy to rest, get warm, and get dry. A Belgian diver by the name of Robert Stenuit was the first diver to test Link’s SDC, but for only twenty-four hours. Stenuit was hoisted to the deck of Link’s sea vessel where he was decompressed with the SDC out of the water. The next step was to see if men could go down 400 feet and work for several days and be able to decompress quickly and not having to be in the cold water, but instead in the comfort of a warm and dry chamber. Hardy, K., Koblick, I., & MacInnis, J. B. (2016) Ed Link’s submerged portable inflatable dwelling (SPID). Journal of Diving History, 24(86), 42-26 General Thoughts

My general thoughts about this article is that the research Edwin A. Link and his dive team performed was very needed and very valuable at the time the research was done. The research probably catapulted deep sea research very quickly. Being able to stay underwater at great depths for long periods of time allows divers to perform more underwater work and ocean research.

Ideal Gas Law

The equation for ideal gas law is PV =nRT. Pressure times volume equals the amount of substance times gas constant times absolute temperature. A practical application of ideal gas law that is used every day at my job is ventilation. Engineers determine the amount of ventilation that is needed for all buildings and processes at the large Army installation where I work. Some type of ventilation is required in all buildings that are occupied by employees. Ventilation will keep the air quality well enough for employees to breath correctly. Our industrial hygiene employees perform air quality sampling with meters to determine if alternate means of ventilation are needed in our buildings. If chemicals are used in the building normally a mechanical ventilation system is needed to keep the air quality at a level that is acceptable. Ventilation will force air into the building and suck air out of the building creating a flow of air and helping the quality of the air. Another example of a practical application for ideal gas law is fire extinguishers. Our installation is very large and there are close to one thousand fire extinguishers on our installation. The cylinder of the fire extinguisher is filled with carbon dioxide and water. The carbon dioxide and the water create pressure around the CO 2 tube. Once the lever is depressed, the extinguisher is activated and the mixture of water and carbon dioxide rush out of the tube, hopefully enough to put out the fire.

Atmospheric and Liquid Pressure

The article deals with atmospheric and liquid pressure. The SDC is under immense liquid pressure because the vessel is 400 feet underwater. The chamber of the SDC is pressurized, which creates atmospheric pressure. The SDC had to have the correct amount of oxygen in order for the divers to be able to breathe properly. The SDC also had to be pressurized so that the water would not come in to the vessel as the divers were entering and exiting the vehicle. The SDC had to be built strong enough to withstand the pressure of the ocean water. The SDC also had to have the correct atmospheric pressure once the vessel was brought up to the surface in order to decompress the diver’s without being in the water.

REFERENCES

Hardy, K., Koblick, I., & MacInnis, J. B. (2016) Ed Link’s submerged portable inflatable dwelling (SPID). Journal of Diving History, 24(86), 42-26

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