Hydra V Hydrogen Experimental Dive to 450 Meters by C

OTC 5261

Hydra V Hydrogen Experimental Dive to 450 Meters by C. Gortanand H.G.Delauze,Cornex

This pager was gresented at the 18th Annual OTC in Houston, Texas, May 5-6, 1986. The material ia subject to correction by the author Permission to copy” is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words.

-cl! HeliumhasWowed theprofessior!aldivertoworkon the continentsllshelfarea down to depthsof 300 HYDRAV wasprforrnedin03m MarseilleF@perteric meters.In thisrange,equipmentsndmethcdssrenow ResearchCenterin May and June 1985.Duringthis relativelywellestabliskl.Rbwever,in spiteof its experiment,6 diverslivedat a simulateddepthof450 remarkablequalities,heliumalonecannotb thevector meters in a hyperbaricatmosphere “composedof of oxygeninbreathiwgmixturesbeyonda certaindepth iT@wger],heliumandoxygen(I&dreliox). Indeed,deep diversmust cope with 2 limiting ‘lYsditionaldeepdivingwithheiiumis Iimitsdby 2 factors: factors: - ‘TheH@ PressureNervousSyndrome(Hpl@,linked - HighPreesureN&vous E@drome (HENS)thatcmEe3 to theeffectsof hydrostaticpressureon the motrici~disorderskeyond~ metere. centralnervoussystem.5ese WP inthe250 - Gasdensitythatiqairspihqary ventilation. / ~ meter rangeand increasewith depth, Hj@rogensimildextendtheselimitsthsnketo its causingmotordisturbancesthatmsy wsriously narcotic@ency thaths9sn sntagonkticeffectcn the imgs.irworkefficie~. HPNSsyndromesndthanksto itslightmolecularmass. The densityof breathingmixtures,which increasesprop%ionaUy to pressure,demandsa HYDRAV, firsthydrogenexperimentalsaturation aiasequentincr~ inbreathingefforts,which dive,wassuccessfully~rformed. hindersworkcapacity. Thefollowingcorxltermeasuremsyk propxsed: All the equipment and techniquesespecially - !Cheeffectsofpressurecanbe reducedby adding developedto use hydrogenhave proved entirely to the breathingmixturea givenamountof satisfactory. narcotic@s (heliumis not). Fromthebiomedicalstandpint,theimprovementwith - (%sdensitycanb reducsdby usinga vector- referencetoHelioxis outstand@ : thathasa lowermolecularmessthanhelium. - No HighPressureI’@vous.Syndrcme, Hjdrogenis theonlygas thatsatisfieskoththese - Emier br&thing. criteria.Becauseof theprogressin thesearchend exploitationof deepoffshoreoilfields,COMEXdecided TheverypromisingresultsofHYDRAV willho~~ to launcha newprogramfordeveloping~drcgendiving. lead to quick offshoreindustrialapplications. Ec&erimentshavebeencarriedout Eothat sea snd at ~drogenwill ensblediversto work in waterdepths itsresearchcenterinMarseille. rsr!gingfran403to 6C0meterwsndcertainlykeyond. - HydraIII- June1$&x divesat seaat depthsof 75 snd91 meters. - ~dra IV - November1983: chsmberdivesat INTRODUCTION deptk of 120,150,183,240and~ meters. - HydraV - MsysndJunel= : chambersduration For morethan20 yearsnow,sil deepcommercial divesat 450meters. diveshavebeencarriedout usingbreathingmixtures !Che~itive resultsof theseseriesof ~riments madeup essentiallyofheliumendowgen. leadw to envisiona rapidindustrializationof deep . . . . Illustrationsat endof~pr. du~ OTC 5261 2 HYDRAV : HYIJROGENEXPERIMENT DIVETO 450METERS

CHOICEOF AN ANTI-HPNSGASVBYKR breathingmixturecorn&osedof 21 oxygenand x$ hydrogen,the hydrcgenprtial pressurewas 18.6bar. Many@_@%aric experimentswereperformedto study At 240 me+&rs,the narcoticeffectwas evidentin HPNSsnd to establishvariousmethodsto reduceits alldivers.At thisdepth,withtheawnemixture,the effecks.A si@ ficantreductionin HIllSwas obtaind hydrcgenpartialpressureWSS24.5&r. by addingto theheliunwxygenmixturea givenamount At ~ meters,thediversbreathdH$ireliox. of nitrogen,thenarcoticpotencyof whichis well known. TwoE@drelioxmktureswereb?st~ti: -Mixturel : H,ydrcgen= 747 (pzirtialpr~e Unfortunately,the benefitof usingnitrogento 22.9tar’). reduceHPNSis hinderedby a significantdrawback: Hewmr = 247 increasein thebreathingmixturedensity,because @,ygen . 2$ nitrcgenisseven-timesheavierthanhelium. - mre 2 :H@rogen= 5% (p.rtislpreemre 18.3bar) IMringtheJANUSIV opration,thefirstdiveto 501 fkl.iunr. YPJ$ meters(worldrecord),carriedoutintheMediterranean (ky~wl} =2$ Seain IW7 byCXXIEX,aTTIHIIXgmmixturewasusedto pressurizethe chambers. The composition‘ofthe At thismaxim:ild,)lJli~we wantel II)evcnkrdly check mixturewasa~follows: the existenceof any rever:xil.or ruwcosison the - Oxygen = Iz premiseof an antagonistica~:tiotlof pressure: Nitrogen=574 “pressurereversaleffect”(SeeFigure1). – Helium = -94$ With mixture1 at 303 meters,thenarcosiswss thatresultsina densityof10.5~1. clearlylesssignificantthsnwithl~droxat240meters (p3rtialpressure.24.5 bar). ByusingHelioxattheeauedepth,thedensitywould Withmixture2 at‘~ metvrs,thesignsof narcosis haveken 8.2g/1,i.e.22$less. wereno lorgerdiscerniblewhereasthsywereat 183~ metersusingI&drox(p.rtialpre,wre= 18.6tar). We thereforesee thata largeamountof nitrogen cannotk usedwithouthinderingventilator-yfunction Thus,at 303meters,thehydrrmtaticpressureseems andreducingrespiratorycomfort. to be sufficientto exerta smallreveredeffecton hydrogennarcosis.However,thisphenomenonwas to & !l!heuse of hydrogeninstetiof nitrogenwas confirmedand this was a major objectivein the thereforedecidedupm, becauseit istwiceas lightas HYDRAV ex~riment. helium and becauseit is narcoticunder raised pressure,as provedby previousanimalexperiments carriedoutin *verallskoratories. omnms OF THEm v DIVJNIEXPm.mmr

@ accountof thepw.itiveresultsof theHYDRAIV exprimentat ~ meters,HYll+AV w- designedat 450 meterswithtwocategoriesofobjethivesinmird: ‘l’henarcoticeffecto.faga~ speciesis directly 1. !Cechnical relatedto itsrpartialpressure.Hence,the narcotic . Definitionot hydroget~saturationdiving effecto.fn.ltrogenduringairdivingcccorsat tiut 50 procedures. metersintheaveragediverendthenrapidlyincresses, . Pr+industrkiL&kiorlof lifesupprt~~ms becomingdangerousbeyond70/75meters.Thepartial spcifictohydrogenatnros@eres. pressureof nitrogenat 50 metersis 4.7bar,and__6.’7 . Definitionof wfetye.luipnrentandprocedures. barat 7’5meters. 2. Physiological Studyof the:Yki-HPNSet’.feckoflydrogsn. In order to quantifythe narcotic~teilcyof Verificationof thepresswrereveredeffed. hydrogenin marl,LXIMl{lXcarricxioutin Novemberl= a ‘toxicological:;hldyoL’thecrli?ckson man of worldpremiere@x@riluexti.___kmin&thisexperiment,6 longexp.xuresto l@l partialpressuresof Heliox-saturateddivers (3 professional and.3 hydrogen. scientific)breathed ‘~Hydrox”(H2‘and 02) and Controlof isob~~riccounlx+r-diCtusionupon ‘T?ydrelioi’(H2,Me,02)miituresforseveralho~. at transferFronla hydrogetlatmosphereto a depthsof 120,150,!EO,240and~ met%rs. heliumatmosp+wre. Studyof theventiktoryfunctionat restand At IE13meters,distinctivenarcosissigm were duringmuscularexercise,kothmlderdryand otservedin someof thedivers.At thisdepth,witha. wet conditio!w. OTC 5261 ‘&)RTAN& DELAUZE 3

mm.umiw SEP-UP —— Thehyprbaricfacilities“oT‘%-eCOm ~rirnentsl. Theflammabilitylimitsof hydrogenat atmospheric Centerwere arrangedto obtaintwo distinctzones pressurearethefollowirg: (Figure2). IOwlimit ! Highlimit

1. I#zirelioxzone In air 4$ ! 74.5$ In oxygen 474 ! 94% The Hydreliox zone was made up of 3 interconnecteds@ericeldivingchanters,with Priorto theHYDRAIVex&riment, we determined specificarrangementsfor hydrogenuse. !Che flammebili~limitsof (H2,~, 02)ternarymixtures systemcouldaccomrxiate3 ‘setiateddivers. underpressure. Resultscanbe summarizedas follows: - S@ere 1 :Living chariber,equippedwith3 1. Hydrelioxmixturesare non flammablewhen the bunks. oxygenfractionalconcentrationis lowerthen 4.4~Mtil atota pressureof 76 bar, i.e.a - Sphere2 : %iiitaryti”lxrelsoequivalentto pressureequivalentto a depthof 750 meters a divirgbellon topof the wet (me 3). pt. It can thereforebe statedthatthereis no longera riskof fireina~rbaric chanberas - Sphere3 :Laboratorysnd work chamber soonss theoxygenconcentrationis lowerthen underdry conditions,or wet pot 4.4$,correspondingtothe followingpartial. forunderwaterstudies. pressuresas a functionof depth: 102(mbar)! Depth(meters) P@iolqgicalcomfortwesriaintainedbymeaneof ! a new lifesuppx%system,~cidly develo@ 403 ! 81 forHydrelioxatrnos~eres. m! 114 m! 126 Thisequip%entensured_: To havea wide stietymargin,we decidedto inject@drogenintothechambersonlyfrcmX0 - thermo+ygrcmetriccontrol, meters,where,foran oxygenpressureof 4.cO - theeliminationof carlmndioxide end cxiours, mbar,theoxygenfractionalconcentrationis – the centinuouere-oxygenationof the gas lowerthan2% mixtureto compensatethe divers’oxygen 2. Furthermore,thisl&rirelioxmixtureinflammable consumption,and its eliminationduring ody with a hydrogenfractionalconcentration decompression. higher* 7.5foratotel pressureof 10 bar (m 4). mi~ decompre=ion,hydrogenis 2. Helioxzom selectivelyeliminatedto ensurea concentration lowerthan4%whenreaching2CDmeters. A high capacitycylindrical.chsmber with transferlock, able to accommodateup to 8 It csnthereforebe statedthatthe fireriskis persons(6divers+ 1 doctorwithhisassistant, elmost non-existentat great depth in hydrogen if requiredin a Helioxatmosphere).This atms@eres. chamber was connectedto Sphere 2 of the On the other hand, the fire risk outsidethe Hj-drelioxzone.‘Itprovidda retreatpition chzukers,eventuaUyiniucedby leak mustlx?seriously intheeventofenemergencyend&hermore w tekenintocmsideration. intendedfor the finaldecompressionof the All gps circuithosepip werereplacedby rigid divers. StSinkxrsteelor cop~r pi- Thechenkersof tie W%=~ne werecover~~a h~comect=d outdoors It was amnectedto a eonwntionsllifewpprt throughahighflow cqaci~gxexhamt system.Aset systemformaintainingcomfortable@ysiologiczil of hydrogen detectors triggered the rates of conditions. functioningof theexhaustsysbemwithreswt to two alarmthresholds: This chamber housed scientificequipment 0.15ZWo&n -E&tractionraten“ 1 =20,~&/h identicelto that in Sphere3 to carryout 0.5%@i@en - Extractionraten”2=40,033 r#/h referencetestsin the heliumzoneunderthe The 40,000 m3/h extraction rate slightly ssmepressureconditionsas in theHydreliox repressurizesthe~rimentsl Center. zone. Thus, the slightestleak couldbe immediately dilutedwddrawnoutOf the building. 4 HYDRAV : HYDROGENEXPERIMENTALDIVETO 4S0 METERS OTC 5261

HYDRAV EXPIKWIJ$M’ALDIVEAT 450MM?Iii3 GENERALPRXHFESOF THEEXPEH.WENT

TheHYDRAV experimentaldiveat 450 meterswes 1. Confinement: carriedcutfromMW 3rdto June7th,1%5, at ~“MEK% TesmA: frctnPby3rdto7th, 1$85 HyperbaricCenterin Marseille(thediveprofileis Tam B : frcmP@y7thto Ilth,1%S giveninFigure5). Thediverswere_ to Helioxat 10 meters 9 divershaiteenWeselectdto wovide2 teamsof for baselinecardiologicaland neurological 3 divers: measmments.

!CeamA: PetrickRAUDE -m 2* Canpressicn: buis SXNEDER -CXIMEX TeamA: fYarrlky7thto9th,1%5 Jean-@yM4RCELAUDA - FrenchNavy TeamB: fran!+by13thto 141il,lM

!CeanB: YvesJANmJm! -mm !Potsl dmation : 39 hourswith2.5hourstqa at Jea-PierreMACCHI - IrrstitutNational 1(X3,X33,3@ d 4C0metem de Plong% Prof-icnnelle Up to2YX)m%ers : Ccqressionwithheliuu SergeICART - FrenchNavy Frcm2CKlto450meters:Compressionwith Suketitutes : . . . &irogen RogerCIIZENANE -m AlainMARGHDW - FrenchNa~ At 4% metersthe Hydrelioxmixturehas the Jea@?auriceAUIIKE - FrenchNavy followingcomposition:

! Fractional! Partti The COMEX researchteem was assistedby the ! Concentration! Presmre followingqecislizedlabcratoriee: Oxygen ! 0.CX137 ! 0.4& H@lium ! 0.4473 ! ZII.6h CentreNationalde RechercheScien%ifique ~Wn ! 0.5435 ! ~ bar (m) : Respiratoryneurologyand_f@aiologyunderwz&er. Theave densityof thisdrymixtureat 37°C Centred’l%ude et de Recherchede Bio~iol@e was5.57 literwitha reductionof26~compred du Servicede SardAdesArdes (CERB)- ‘French to a Helioxmixture(I&- 02)sndof more~ *: 50Z @m@red toa Trimixmbdwre(~, N2,02). Cardio-respiratory@ysiology- dryatmoqhere Biologyandpsychometry. 3. stay on thekdtcm Commissiond’EtudesPratiquesd’Intervention SCW laMer(CEPI&!@- FrenchN&vy: TeamA: ~rbsric medecine Gra_&?ed’Intervention&MS ~ ~r (G=) _ - FromMey gthto Ioth,1%5 : underI&drelim, FrenchNavy: with~iol~i@, ~chometrical,biological. Divingprocedures. srximeiicalteeteunderdrymnditione. Centred’tide et de RecherchedesTechniques Ekxm-Marin&de la Directicmdes Chsntiereet -Msy llth, 1985 : Transferto the helium ArmesN&iLes (Cl%l’SM- IXXN): &smbr afteren intermediatestayof8 hours Decmpreesion- Dcpplercontrol undera hydrogenp.rtislpreesxweof 12.5tar. Optimisationdes Conditionsde Travailet Applicationde la Rechercheen Ergonomicet On arrivalin the helium chamber,sudden Securilx$(03!ARE3): occurrenceof Hl?NS,and recoverywithin24 Psychanetry. hours. Centred’Ophts&@ie deMartigues(ClW2): Evidence of isobaric counter-diffusion O@ltalmlcgy. circulatinglmbbles,supprcsedby a 23 meter NavalMedicalResearchInstitute(NMRI)of U.& therqeuticalrecompression. Navy: Explorationof cardic-respiratoryfunctions. - Mqy 12th,1%4 : Ikcompreesionto493meters. SwedishDefenseResearchInstitute- Naval. Pk?decineDivisionofSwedishNavy(SDRI- MD) : - FromR@ 14thto 15th,1$& :Referencetests Psychcmetiy. inHelioxat 4X meters. OTC 5261 CDRT~-& DELAUZE 5

facilities,there,was rropossibility of !f!esmB : obtaininga flsmnwblemixture. - From May 14th to 17th, 1985 : with @ysiologicKL,Wchometricsl,biologicaland No incidenths.vingbeenobserved,we csn say medicaltestsunderdryconditions. thatthe procedureswere welladaptedto this -From Msy 18thto 19th,1985: Testof work new divingtechniqueand correctlyaypliedby paformanceunderwaterwith@rdi@respiratory technicalpszwonnel. measurements. 2. Bicrcediczil.: 4. Deccmpreesion: Placedunderpermanentmedicalsupervision, TeamA: includingfrequentblood tests, electro- -Msy 17th,1%5 : Startif decompr-ion”With encepholographicalmonitoring and work Heliox. performancetests,the HYDRA V experiment - Msy31st,1%5 : Ihdof decompression clearlydemonstratedthe lxmefitsof lqdrogen mixturesinverydeepdivi~ ‘l!eamB: - L’byI%h, 1995 : Startof decanpreesiouwith - !rOxicolcgy: I@ireliox. The long exposureat 45 bar at a hydrogen - Msy 31st,1935: !lhmsferto Helioxat 157 partielpressureof 25 bar proved to be meters. harmless. Blood snalysisdata (chemical, EeccxopressionContirued enzymologicaland histological)were not –June7ti,1% : EM of decanpression. significantlychanged either during the exprimentordurirgtheweeksthatfollowed.

RE3JLTS - Anti-HRfSeffect: HPNS whichusuallyappearsin the 303meter 1. !l!echnicd.: _ inthecaseofHelioxwasnotevidencedup to 450 metersin sny of the 6 diverswith No significanttechnicalincidentwas observed I#dreliox. durirgthe~riment ..~dthe entire_.teC~i@d set-upProvti...tobe Rrf@ly a%p?% .~...~ls Noneof thewell-knownsymptomsrelatedto HENS newmethcdof divir~ wereobserved:neithertremor,nor @smetr@ nor the characteristiclackof relaxation,and - Special life support system for hydrox febrili~,thateventuallymunce forthcoming atmoqheres: ~ocloniss. The system was capableof controllingthe environmental.conditionsinsidethechsmbersat Normal through the nose breathing and the precisevsluesderrrsndedfor miologicel -Uenw no dyq%gi~ no loseof apptite comfort, with remarkable accuracy and sndinsignificantlossof weight. relisbiliw. Anotherremarkablefsct,the totalslx+nm of - Automaticoxygenmske=up: NJJS(nojointjuicesyndrome). Thesafetydevicedesignedto limitthe o~gen Thisconditi~contrastedso muchwiththatthe admissionin caseof mslfhc%ionof theaffgen divershad previouslyexperiencedduringother mslr+upsystem,wasnevertriggered,bothduring deepmaturationdivescarriedout eitherwith compressionand decompressionwheretheoxygen Helioxor !Trimix- Nitrogen,that,despitethe requirementis.kweververysignificant. stressdue to confinement,general.goodhumor was the constantfeatureduringthe stay in - Ssfetyequipment: I@irelim. Themulti~etectorequipmentempIoyedplsyedits partcorrectly.A leakcccurredendw quickly - Isobariccounter-diffusion: detectedendcontrolledincompletesafety. In spiteof the precautionstaken,we were amazed by its intensityat the end of the - Operatingproceduresforthesaturationdivm Hydrelioxb HjdroxswitchintheA teamordy. facilities: Dopplerdetection simultaneouslyevidenced TheseproceduresM ken definedsc thatat my circulatingbubbles.The 211metertherspa.rtic time, under any circumstancessmd at any recompressionstoppedthis phenomenonend locationof thedivirrgsystemanditsassociated ensbleda normslsituationto be re.gahd.

“ “. 6 HYDR4V : HYDROGENEXPERIMEITD%DIVETO 450 METERS OTC S261

- !I!ranefermethcdefroma I@irelioxmixhre to Theysls noticeda respiratorycomfortandease Heliox: of,effort that made some of them really The isobarictrsmsferfrom a high hydrogen enthusiasticto usethisnewgasmixture. pressureto an EXPYSJ.pressure.of heliumneeis much time to be carried out under safe 2. Absenceof my toxici~ was confirmedby sll conditions. This eliminates say diving biologicaltestscarriedout throughoutthe procedureinvolvingrapidtrsnefersbecauseof qeriment andduringthe week thatfollowed. theriskiniucdby axnter-ditiion@enomena Hydrogenseemedto behavew sn inertgas in breathingmixtures.Nevertheless,toxicol@cal - Respiratorymnfort: investigationsshouldbe continuedto confirm The respiratorytests gave resultswhich the total harmlessness during prolonged corresponded to what was expected. ~eliox expxxres. Pbysiologicsldataseemedto indicatethatthe diversneverapproacheda ventilatorlimit. 3. IscMiricmurrter-diffusion,may case problems Thisconfirmedthebreathi,ngcomfortprovidedby atgreatdepthsduringtrensferfromhydrogento Hydrelioxmixtures.Therespiratoryequivalent helium,if one wantsto use a “mixeddiving of oxygenremainedrelativelyhi#’1,snd carken method”,with Helioxsaturationsnd Bjdreliox dioxideretentionwas neuerobserved. bell diving. Merelyan “sll~drogen”method seemstobe recommended,accordingto procedures_ similarto thoseusedforthe,seconddiverteam CONCLUSIONS duri~ HYDRAV.

With thisex~riment,we haveprovedthatheavy The HYDRAV ex~riment,first@hwgen saturation edurstiondivingequipment,initiallyintendedfor diveever completed,allowedus to ~wer several. helium,can be adaptedto hydrogenend offersall questions. safe$yguarantees.Modificationsarerequiredon.lyfor essmiatedsub-systemsand do notaskforprohibitive 1. Thesnti-HPNSeffectof kydrogenwas evidenced, costs. w praiictedfromtheoreticalconsiderations. Duringtheirstayin I@drelioxat 450meters, Within the limitsof the depth rangeof these thediverssubjectivelyfeltss wellss duringa experiments,the~itive resultsalresriyobtainedin saturationdivein Helioxat 21XImeterswhere the HYDRA program,open the &atewayto the pre- tky areneveraffectedby thissyndrome. irxluetrisliz.ationof thisMW methcdof diving.

HYDROSTATIC NARCOSIS PRESSURE [

PRESSURE OF HPNS

Figure 1 : HPNS AND NARCOSIS INTERACTIONS .-).. HYORELIOX ZONE HELKM ZONE c 2

LIVING BELL SIMULATION CHAMBER CHAMBER

LIVING TRANSFER CHAMBER LOCK

WORK CHAMBER

Figure 2 : HYPERBARIC CHAMBER COMPLEX

5.5 / ● ● /025.

4.5.

NON FLAMMABILITY

!0 Zo 30 ~ BAR PH2

Figure 3 : FLAMMABILITY OF HYDRELIOX MIXTURES H2

‘>o “a llz

Figure 4 : LOW FLAMMABILITY LIMITS OF HYDRELIOX

MIXTURES at 10, 20 and 40 BAR.

IEPTH m) 450 A 400

3W \A \ (ha/

\ \B 2[

MAY IJUNE

Figure 5 : HYDRA V DIVE PROFILE