The crew of a submarine needs to breathe - how do they get enough oxygen? Well, submarines have special machines that make oxygen from ocean water. They use a process called electrolysis, which means using electricity to break apart H20 molecules to get oxygen.
However, with a special fuel cell system, subs can remain underwater for longer. The present record – set by an HDW Class 212A submarine – is 14 days. If a submarine is unable to surface, regulations require that the crew must be able to survive for at least six days.
If it is not full of air, we may have a serious problem. When the ballast tanks between the inner and outer hulls are full of air, the submarine floats. That's how we make it float. To make it submerg we let the air out, water flows in making the sub “get heavier”.
Oxygen in submarines is produced by putting sea water through a process of electrolysis. Submarines typically have a couple of big oxygen tanks as well, used to quickly raise oxygen concentration if the system fails.
Modern submarines can stay underwater without coming to the surface for several days. This means crew members can breathe the same air for an unusually long time. Dr Aleksandra Sebastian and co-workers from Lund University, Sweden, have studied how the quality of air on submarines changes over eight days of submersion.
Waste that is discharged overboard must either be pumped out against the ambient sea pressure or blown out using pressurized air. Waste materials are collected and periodically discharged.
Most submarines have a distillation apparatus that can take in seawater and produce fresh water. The distillation plant heats the seawater to water vapor, which removes the salts, and then cools the water vapor into a collecting tank of fresh water.
According to Guinness World Records, the longest time anyone has spent underwater in a fixed environment is 73 days 2 hours 34 minutes. (A submarine spent 111 days under water.
To maintain a viable atmosphere without surfacing, nuclear submarines are equipped with air purifi cation systems that control the concentration of oxygen (O2), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2).
Australia possesses six Collins-class diesel-electric attack submarines. These submarines are 77.8 meters long with a 7.8-meter-wide beam and can travel up to 20 knots when submerged. They can remain submerged for about 70 days without surfacing and are armed with six 533mm torpedo tubes.
The water pressure on the outer hatch is always greater than the air pressure inside the submarine, which prevents opening the hatch. Only when the pressure inside the escape chamber is equal to the sea pressure can the hatch be opened.
On fast attack subs, the food is lowered into the submarine at port by hand, one box of groceries at a time. On ballistic missile submarines, food is lowered through the escape trunk opening by crane in aluminum modules measuring six by six by five feet.
Everybody is aware that smoking is a legal, if harmful, stress reliever. So the Navy banned smoking aboard submarines not with the stated purpose of curing the smokers, but of protecting nonsmoking submarine crew members from the threat of heart and lung disease from secondhand smoke.
Underwater, submarines use acoustic signals (or SONAR) to communicate; in the air, airplanes use radio signals like cellular or WiFi. But neither of these signals can work across both water and air.
But reaching the lowest part of the ocean? Only three people have ever done that, and one was a U.S. Navy submariner. In the Pacific Ocean, somewhere between Guam and the Philippines, lies the Marianas Trench, also known as the Mariana Trench.
Nine nuclear submarines have sunk, either by accident or scuttling. The Soviet Navy lost five (one of which sank twice), the Russian Navy two, and the United States Navy (USN) two.
A nuclear submarine can dive to a depth of about 300m. This one is larger than the research vessel Atlantis and has a crew of 134. The average depth of the Caribbean Sea is 2,200 meters, or about 1.3 miles. The average depth of the world's oceans is 3,790 meters, or 12,400 feet, or 2 1⁄3 miles.
Early submersibles were meant to cruise on the surface and submerge only for short periods. Because of anti-submarine warfare, modern subs need speed under water to escape attack. Although the actual top speed of American naval vessels is a secret, modern submarines travel faster than 30 knots underwater.
The showers on a submarine are set up much like the ones in your home, well kind of. They have hot and cold water access with a recirculation pump so that the water stays hot so that you can use it quickly and efficiently by minimising water usage. Reducing water usage is a constant major driver for submariners.
Most bigger submarines have something called “Trash Disposal Units”, which are exactly what you think you are. Somewhere in the submarine there is a long tube or a shaft, which has a ball valve separating it from the ocean. Crew members have to assemble canisters from pre-punched galvanized, perforated steel sheets.
Submarines. Established reports and manufacturer's claims indicate that a handful of submarines are capable of speeds exceeding 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). In 1965, the experimental USS Albacore reported a speed of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph).
Most times, the bodies of shipwrecked sailors are washed away by currents or eaten by fish.
The pressure from the water would push in on the person's body, causing any space that's filled with air to collapse. (The air would be compressed.) So, the lungs would collapse. At the same time, the pressure from the water would push water into the mouth, filling the lungs back up again with water instead of air.
The cooling equipment of submarines consists of two separate systems, one for refrigeration proper, and the other for air-conditioning.
Amine fills the air
You are probably wondering why I would call this post such thing... Since Submarines remain submerged with a sealed atmosphere they rely on a chemical called Amine to remove the carbon dioxide. This chemical makes everything stink.