Chambers and Sub Sea Habitats

	A flexible one-man chamber constructed in 1913. What is interesting to note is on the bottom right of the photo is what appears to be compressed air cylinders. Or its a rebreather unit to remove CO2 from the chamber?

Diving simulator (Drager) installed in 1913 in Lubeck in the Federal Republic of Germany. This simulator had an operating pressure of 20 bar or 294 psi. This would allow divers to simulate working at close to 660 feet of sea water. Compare this photo with the one below of the US Navy wet chamber at Panama City, Florida. In spite of significant advances made in the last decade in ROV and one-atmosphere systems, the need to operate divers at deep depths has not decreased. In fact the mission cycle of divers on survey or construction work on offshore drilling and production platforms at ever increasing depths is increasing. So saturation systems have to be developed and tested to enable teams of divers to safely operate at depth. So testing chambers have been designed and built to match the environment divers will work in.

Diving simulator (Drager) installed in 1913 in Lubeck in the Federal Republic of Germany. This simulator had an operating pressure of 20 bar or 294 psi. This would allow divers to simulate working at close to 660 feet of sea water. Compare this photo with the one below of the US Navy wet chamber at Panama City, Florida.

In spite of significant advances made in the last decade in ROV and one-atmosphere systems, the need to operate divers at deep depths has not decreased. In fact the mission cycle of divers on survey or construction work on offshore drilling and production platforms at ever increasing depths is increasing. So saturation systems have to be developed and tested to enable teams of divers to safely operate at depth. So testing chambers have been designed and built to match the environment divers will work in.

This system is a "wet chamber". Which means the inside of the system is filled with water and is pressurized to simulate the desired depth. This is invaluable for testing equipment and divers before going on-site under actual conditions. These simulators are used to test:

Theoretically calculated compression and decompression tables, using various types of mixed gas.	Breathing and life support equipment required to keep the dive alive and comfortable.
Physical and mental capability of divers to withstand the dives to be undertaken.	Actual working techniques required to complete an essential task at depth.

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