Reactors in a nuclear-powered submarineA nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Nuclear_submarine
Submarines also need electric power to operate the equipment on board. To supply this power, submarines are equipped with diesel engines that burn fuel and/or nuclear reactors that use nuclear fission.
All submarines run out of fuel. Those that use diesel fuel/jet fuel/etc. must be refueled just like you would do with a gasoline/diesel fueled automobile on a frequent basis and they do that by entering port and topping off their tanks just like your fossil-fueled car.
Submarines may carry nuclear fuel for up to 30 years of operation. The only resource that limits the time underwater is the food supply for the crew and maintenance of the vessel.
In a submarine with diesel-electric propulsion, a diesel engine drives a battery charging unit. The diesel genset acts as a battery charger and charges the batteries with electric current. That electric current powers the electric propulsion motor, which in turn drives the propeller.
The cans are ejected from the submarine using a trash disposal unit (TDU), which is a long cylindrical, vertical tube connected to the ocean through a ball valve.
Like all mechanical vehicles, a submarine has an engine, gears and many moving parts that are almost impossible to keep fully silent. Even in “Silent Running” stealth mode, with many systems temporarily shut down or quieted, some level of mechanical noise is still produced and radiated out from the sub.
There is also the etiquette of shower time -- three to five minutes being what these sailors constitute as being considerate of others since it is all about the "water run time" and the cycling out of dirty water for clean water these sailors must do.
Pressurised seawater is used to flush the toilets on a submarine. A simple ball valve operates the flush on the toilet which enables the toilet to be 'plumbing free'. Once flushed, you then manually turn a valve next to the toilet to refill the bowl.
The longest submerged and unsupported patrol made public is 111 days (57,085 km 30,804 nautical miles) by HM Submarine Warspite (Cdr J. G. F. Cooke RN) in the South Atlantic from 25 November 1982 to 15 March 1983.
Maintaining a Fresh Water Supply
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.
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.
CO2 SCRUBBING
This is done chemically using soda lime (sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide) in devices called 'scrubbers'. The CO2 is trapped in the soda lime by a chemical reaction and removed from the air, ensuring a safe breathing atmosphere is maintained.
Nuclear power allowed submarines to run for about twenty years without needing to refuel. Food supplies became the only limit on a nuclear submarine's time at sea. Since then, similar technologies have been developed to power aircraft carriers.
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China possesses both a nuclear-powered submarine fleet and a robust diesel-electric submarine fleet. While the PLAN is currently developing its nuclear-powered submarine capabilities, its diesel-electric submarine fleet remains the backbone of China's submarine forces.
Diesel engines could drive them at nine knots on the surface, but once submerged, large batteries permitted their electric motors to drive them underwater at the high speed of 15 knots for two hours. (Ten knots was a common speed for submerged submarines until after World War II.)
In the enclosed atmosphere of the submarine, these pollutants can build up and pose a health risk. Therefore, aerosol cans (such as hair spray, shave cream, spray deodorant) are not authorized to be brought on board.
In conventional submarines, the renewal of the air occurs with the use of the snorkel or when it is in the sea surface. The cooling machinery consists of two identical plants, one either side of the ship's center line, working in conjunction with the direct-expansion coolers in the diverse air conditioning units.
Submarine networking is the process by which data is carried on undersea cables to connect continents. Submarine networks carry 99 percent of the world's intercontinental electronic communications traffic.
A submarine "day" lasts 18 hours and is split into three six-hour shifts. So a submariner may work for six hours and train, maintain equipment or sleep for 12 hours.
Aboard fast-attack submarines, two bathrooms - each with four toilets and two urinals - serve 100 crew members. Crew chiefs and officers use another three baths. Designating one bath for a small number of women could disadvantage scores of men, while making them unisex raises other problems.
Food for the crew is the bulkiest commodity in a submarine and becomes the limiting factor for patrol duration. Fresh food lasts about two weeks, then it is canned, dried, and frozen food for the rest of the patrol.
The ocean could be affected by high tsunami and/or pressure waves in the case of a large asteroid or comet impact. Most current submarines can survive at a depth of 400 m, so they might survive long pressure spikes created by the waves above them as high as 200–400 m, but not kilometer size waves.
Established reports and manufacturer's claims indicate that two (or perhaps more) submarines are capable of speeds exceeding 30 knots (56 km/h).
No, it will be fine. Pressure inside the submarine is well controlled and essentially the same as regular atmospheric pressure.