Diver Regulators: Simple but Ingenious

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What are rebreathers?

Diver Regulators: Simple but Ingenious

Your dive regulator is a simple but ingenious device: When you inhale, you get fresh air from the tank. When you exhale the air goes out the through the regulator into the water. The trail of bubbles above a diver is the telltale sign that he or she is using scuba equipment.

Commercial and military divers sometimes use a more advanced system called a rebreather. It allows the diver to "rebreathe" his or her own air, and it produces no bubbles.

Rebreathers recover exhaled oxygen and send carbon dioxide into a cannister where it is absorbed by a harmless solid chemical. Depleted oxygen is replaced with oxygen or an oxygen mix from a small tank.

Rebreathers are efficient, compact and fascinating devices that one day may be used more widely by divers. Today, they are for highly specialized uses, such as covert Navy Seal operations. But they are not for recreational diving. They require specialized training to use. They also are hugely expensive, costing as much as $15,000.

   

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