Quote: (Originally Posted by
Dave Sutton)
Chemical scrubbing is the huge achilles heel of current rebreathers. Cryo-scrubbing is the next step... infinite duration, zero consumables save for the cryo (which would also be the gas source), zero caustic coctails, etc. Think out of the box, man!
...technical 'super rebreathers' using cryogenics, non-chemical scrubbers, near infinite durations, etc. The present state of the art is but a flash in the pan, my friends.
Ok for those of us who never heard the term "cryogenics" here is what my limited research on the subject revealed.
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Cryogenic Separation is a distillation process that occurs at very low temperatures close to -170 degrees celsius.
At −78.51° C or -109.3° F, carbon dioxide changes directly from a solid phase to a gaseous phase through sublimation, or from gaseous to solid through deposition. Solid carbon dioxide is normally called "dry ice", a generic trademark.
Before separation can occur, there are specific operation conditions that must be achieved. Distillation requires two phases, gas and liquid. CO2 must be very cold for this to happen.
These conditions are achieved via compression and heat exchange; cold air exiting the column is used to cool the gas entering it.
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Although it *sounds* cool this process seems to be the the more difficult of the other common CO2 seperating technologies.
Dave are you under and NDA on this?
--SB