If you want diving to be fun and not dangerous, you need to follow certain rules of preparation. Properly filling your cylinder is the most important part of these diving trips.
Oxygen cylinder: how to fill it?
Until the 90s, cylinders were filled with ordinary air, consisting of 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. But it is not suitable for depth, there is a danger of nitrogen narcosis. Then they started using air enriched with oxygen. But this was not a solution either. At depth, oxygen turned into a poison.
The maximum depth for it was 6 meters. Depleted oxygen was also used, but it is not used now. Today, cylinders are filled with either regular air or special gas mixtures (breathing gases) – oxygen, nitrogen, helium. But there is a disadvantage here as well – high cost.
By the way, when immersed to a considerable depth, any impurity can become lethal, so in no case can refill industrial compressed gases.
If you use cylinders for diving, then remember these things:
You should only use marked oxygen cylinders;
High concentrations of oxygen can provoke a fire;
Cylinders should always indicate the composition of the mixture, the date of filling, the name of the person who checked the percentage of oxygen in the mixture and the depth to which you can dive using the mixture.
It is better to store cylinders filled, so it is protected from ingress of unnecessary elements;
You should always state when the annual visual inspection of the cylinder is done;
Important nuances of refueling
To diving bring pleasure and not trouble and problems, to avoid surprises during the dive you must follow the rules and act according to all the requirements for safe diving. Filling the diving cylinders plays an important role.
Proper filling of diving cylinders is one of the main requirements in the preparatory work before diving. Cylinders for diving can be filled with regular air, which is carried out by forcing the inner part of the air with a special compressor. Or you can fill the cylinders for diving a special gas mixture, which are also called special breathing mixes, that is a special gas.
Only when preparing equipment, take into account the fact that any dive under water has different degrees of pressure. If the pressure with a high degree of compression, gas impurities, under it can become simply deadly and very dangerous. In this regard, fill diving cylinders with industrial compressed gas is strictly prohibited.
The best option, to fill in a special place for this purpose, where there is special equipment designed to carry out this filling. Usually, the cylinders can be refueled in the same stores where they are sold or in those places where the sale diving equipment.
Filling tanks for diving is carried out by breathing gas, you should consider some features of the process:
First of all, it is necessary to refill the cylinder with the utmost care. Only use cylinders that are labeled for filling.
Not observing this rule, you can pay dearly. And all because oxygen with a high degree of concentration can lead to fire and corrosion. And so that Darwinists are not endangered, there should be a special indication on the cylinder of the composition of the mixture, in this or that cylinder.
If there is a malfunction, carbon monoxide, grease or even oil from the compressor can lead to the use of such a cylinder to death, to the death of the giver. In addition, it can provoke an explosion, because it is no secret that working with oxygen is quite dangerous.
Any carelessness can have irreparable consequences.
First of all, this applies to the so-called pumping of air. And if it gets on the tank walls, corroded or in a cylinder with a faulty neck and threads at the valve attachment, an explosion is possible as a result of the temperature drop. This is because the air that is not cooled gets into the heated air during the pumping process due to the by the compressor cylinder.
And because after filling, the metal part of the cylinder cools down much faster than the hot air that has accumulated inside. As a result, there is pressure on the wall of the tank, which can lead to an explosion.
Because of these features, it should be noted that of the entire filling process, the cooling process is the most unsafe. It follows that a diving cylinder should be stored only when filled, as this reduces the risk of hazardous particles getting inside the cylinder. Each of them, a risk and a tragedy.
What do scuba divers breathe while underwater?
In most cases, it’s a breathing gas made up of regular air, which contains 21 percent oxygen and 79 nitrogen. In the nineties, such a composition lends itself to purification from impurities and filtration from dust and moisture, followed by a process of compression and as a result of feeding it into the cylinder.
Except that regular air is not always suitable. It is not at all possible to use it during a deep dive. At this point, under pressure, the nitrogen turns into a substance that acts on the diver like an anesthetic.
And as it turns into an anesthetic, the nitrogen disintegrates and dissolves in the body, acting on which leads to the blocking of nerve endings, which blocks the transmission of impulses. In this case, a large concentration of nitrogen provokes such a disease as bends.
If the amount of nitrogen is reduced by increasing the amount of oxygen, the result is pure enriched air. This makes it possible to increase the time spent underwater, there is no danger to health and no risk of decompression sickness.
In general, when choosing the type of mixture, calculate at the time of refueling the dive time, it depends on the ability of the mixture to remain ideal for breathing underwater.
Where to Refill a Cylinder
It is necessary to refill cylinders in specialized places. Or you can go to the fire department, diving clubs, and emergency services. In other words, where they refill breathing apparatuses. But if you know how to use compressor equipment, you can try to do it at home.
To do this, you will need scuba tank, gas analyzer, electric or gasoline compressor. The latter option is used when there is no electricity in the vicinity. When filling, be sure to check all diaphragms, valves, air hoses, fasteners, etc. If there are faulty parts, they must be replaced.
It takes about 10 minutes to fill a 14 liter scuba tank. After the procedure it is necessary to check the air quality with a gas analyzer.
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