| Abstract: | This article deals with the development, testing and performance evaluation of a new class of a self-heated breathing regulator for underwater divers.This class of regulators is introduced because of its capability of utilizing the energy of the compressed gas, used in supporting the lives of divers underwater, in heating the inhaled gases as well as in eliminating the problems of regulator freeze-up in cold waters.The paper presents the performance characteristics of the self-heated second stage regulators under different simulated dive temperatures, breathing frequencies and tidal volumes.Comparisons are also presented between the performance of the self-heated regulator and a conventional regulator in order to define the merits and limitations of each type under different dive conditions.The obtained results indicate that the self-heated regulator produced not only warm gases but performed successfully in zero°C waters while the conventional regulator has failed.This paper suggests the potential of the self-heated regulator as viable means for alleviating the problems of cold water diving. |
