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commercial diving - Breathing Apparatus [click here to return to previous page]

A number of factors dictate the type of breathing apparatus used by the diver, typical considerations include the length of the dive, water contamination, space constraints and vehicle access for support vehicles. Some disciplines will very rarely use surface supplied diving, such as military clearance divers, while commercial divers will rarely use SCUBA equipment.  SCUBA equipment is normally used by media and military divers, often using specialist equipment such as rebreathers, closed circuit SCUBA equipment, which is has a duration, efficient decompression and doesn't release any bubbles into the water, making it ideal for covert use behind enemy lines, mine clearance where a bubble could potentially set off an explosion, and for the observation of animals in the wild.  Open circuit SCUBA equipment is occasionally used by commercial divers working on sites where surface supplied equipment is unsuitable, raised structures such as water towers, or remote locations where the equipment has to be carried to the dive site. Normally, for comfort and practicality, a full face mask, such as those manufactured by Kirby Morgan will be used to allow torches and video cameras to be mounted onto the mask. The benefit of full-face masks is that they can normally also be used with surface supplied equipment, removing the need for the diver or the company to have two sets of expensive equipment.  Surface supplied diving refers to divers using equipment supplied with breathing gas using an umbilical cord from the surface, often from a diving support vessel but possibly, indirectly via a diving bell. SCUBA, which is commonly used in recreational diving, is the main alternative to surface supplied diving equipment.  This is, perhaps, the most common type of equipment used in professional diving, and the one most recognized by the public, made familiar through films such as The Abyss.  Surface Supplied equipment can be used with full face masks or diving helmets.  Helmets are normally to be found fitted with diver to surface communication equipment, and often with light sources and video equipment. The use of a full-face mask or a full diving helmet is down to requirements and personal preference, however the impact protection and warmth offered by a full diving helmet makes it popular for underwater construction sites and cold water work.  Breathing gas for the diver is piped down from the surface, through a long, flexible hose, called an umbilical. In addition to breathing gas, the umbilical may have additional hoses and cables for such things as communications equipment or hot water should the diver be using a hot water suit. The diver's breathing gas can is pumped down from either high pressure tanks or through a gas compressor.  If the diver is to be working at extreme depths for a long period, the diver may live in a special underwater habitat called a diving bell. This type of surface supplied diving is known as saturation diving. The same technique for supplying breathing gas as regular surface supplied diving is used, with the diving bell receiving breathing gas and electricity from a diving support vessel on the surface. Due to the often extreme depths the diver is working at, specialized helium-based breathing gas mixtures are often used to prevent both nitrogen narcosis and oxygen toxicity which occurs at these extreme depths.  Surface supplied diving equipment and techniques are mainly used in professional diving or military diving due to the increased cost and complexity of buying and operating the equipment. This type of equipment is used in saturation diving. Divers almost always wear diving helmets or full face diving masks when being supplied from the surface. Surface supplied divers also use the spherical helmet with brass and glass windows of the historical standard diving dress.  A very simple system called a Hookah allows recreational divers to enjoy surface supplied diving. The system consists of: A filter, a compressor run most often by a small gasoline engine, reserve tank and a hose to reach the diver and a regulator for the diver.  Surface supplied diving equipment usually includes communication capability with the surface, which adds to the efficiency of the working diver. The surface supplied diver is less likely to have "out-of-air" emergencies because when a cylinder supplying the umbilical is exhausted it can be removed and replaced with a full one at the surface.

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Reference material for this scuba diving related informational article: wikipedia – the free online encyclopedia, scuba diving category

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