1,000 ways to die

[Drewski]

Come on guys, do a little research. In 1989 Franz Sanchez placed Milton Krest in the hyperbaric chamber on board his yacht, pressurized, then suddenly depressurized the chamber with an axe, causing Krest's head to explode, predictably enough, and spattering his blood and brains all over their ill-gotten gains.

"What should we do with the money, boss?"

"Launder it."

LOL... James Bond fan, huh?

 

[Thalassamania]

They're cheap, they're easy, the prime movers are nothing, they're even transportable ... but for an accident at 300 feet, they're also just a Plexiglas coffin.

They're plenty of real chambers still out there, Catalina, Memorial, Fishermans', etc.

 

[Stoo]

...but details are changed, somewhat, to "protect" the deceased (and probably to sensationalize as well).

I suspect that it's the facts that are changed, not just details!

If this woman was in fact diving to 300' (quite possible on mix) and had to make a rapid ascent to the surface, I suspect she would have been fatally bent within minutes of surfacing, and that's assuming she didn't embolize or drown somewhere along the way.

I've had the unpleasant experience of seeing several fatally embolized divers over the years who have made rapid ascents from only 100 feet or so, and I assure you, it is not a pretty sight.

As for the chamber, a few decades ago, I was a volunteer operator at two chambers, one in the Caribbean and one up here in Canada. Once a chamber has been pressurized to a treatment depth of only 60', the pressure holding the door closed would be in the range of about 8.8 tons, assuming the hatch is about 30 inches diameter.

If I remember correctly, all of the inlet and exhaust lines have fail-safe valves in them to prevent rapid decompression. If a window was popped out, the people inside certainly wouldn't explode, but they would likely suffer almost instantaneous bubble formation throughout their bodies. I don't know that would be fatal, but I wouldn't be surprised, especially if it wasn't possible to recompress the patient immediately.

 

[JKPAO]

If someone hasn't pointed out my math error, I forgot to square the DIA.
SO 3.1416x (12"x12") x 150 PSI=67858LBS Still one bad ass MFER
See you topside! John

 

[Bretagus]

hyperbolic chamber? Sounds extravagant.

Seriously, though, this thread makes me want to watch Licence To Kill.

I was about to say... I'm pretty sure I saw this in a Bond movie. I think the baddie was Jaws... he takes an axe or something to the "hose" pressurizing the chamber causing a catastrophic self-disassembly of the poor schmoe in the chamber.

 

[Hickdive]

The OP;

opened the door causing instant decompression and she, according to the show, exploded.

The responses;

There is, however, just a wee bit of difference between a diving bell conducting diver transfer operations and a medical recompression chamber conduction patient treatment.

That incident has nothing to do with the possible depressurization of a treatment chamber. TUP (Transfer Under Pressure) can be very dangerous, difficult and exacting (I know, I've dove and supervised a Personal Transfer Capsule, PTC, and on-deck decompression ) and the biggest fear is the clamp that mates the PTC (bell) to the chamber, it is the only part of the system that does not seal itself when pressurized and that must be held in place mechanically against the pressure inside the chamber and the bell.

And the Byford Dolphin involved the sudden catastrophic depressurisation of a chamber resulting in one of the unfortunate victims, exploding hence my statement, 'It has happened'.

I made no comment about the particular vessel, be it a recompression chamber or whatever but yet, surprisingly, my three little words are interpreted to mean something I hadn't written. Why is that?

 

[SteveAD]

The OP;

opened the door causing instant decompression and she, according to the show, exploded.

The responses;





And the Byford Dolphin involved the sudden catastrophic depressurisation of a chamber resulting in one of the unfortunate victims, exploding hence my statement, 'It has happened'.

I made no comment about the particular vessel, be it a recompression chamber or whatever but yet, surprisingly, my three little words are interpreted to mean something I hadn't written. Why is that?

It is highly unlikely that the "exploded" victim in that case actually exploded. The expanding air in the lungs can certainly damage the alveolar air sacks, but beyond that, will seek the path of least resistance and simply escape through the windpipe long before enough pressure differential can be developed to burst the rib cage. When the camber disengaged, the diver was effectively shot out of a giant air cannon and torn apart by high speed impact .

 

[bleeb]

It is highly unlikely that the "exploded" victim in that case actually exploded. The expanding air in the lungs can certainly damage the alveolar air sacks, but beyond that, will seek the path of least resistance and simply escape through the windpipe long before enough pressure differential can be developed to burst the rib cage. When the camber disengaged, the diver was effectively shot out of a giant air cannon and torn apart by high speed impact .

Maybe, maybe not. I don't know the answer, or even have any strong opinions at the moment, but here's some food for thought that came from some scribbling on the back of an envelope: Because of the viscosity of air and assuming the average windpipe is about 2 cm in diameter, it's not possible to squeeze more than about 100 liters/sec of air through one, and because of all the bends and restrictions, the total is probably quite a bit less. Assuming an average male lung volume of 5 L and the 9 atm mentioned in the accident report, that 45 L takes at least half a second to vent, and for roughly a fifth of a second, the lungs have to support an overpressure of 4-5 atm (ata?). Maybe not enough to break a rib, but maybe enough to pop lung tissue out the sides of the chest between those ribs. If the venting speed of the human air system is even lower, the chest has to maintain a higher pressure differential for longer.

I wonder what the total mass of gas dissolved in tissues would have been.

 

[Thalassamania]

... And the Byford Dolphin involved the sudden catastrophic depressurisation of a chamber resulting in one of the unfortunate victims, exploding hence my statement, 'It has happened'.

I made no comment about the particular vessel, be it a recompression chamber or whatever but yet, surprisingly, my three little words are interpreted to mean something I hadn't written. Why is that?

Because the problems involved in TUPing a diver have nothing what-so-ever to do with the issues of hatch failure accidentally blowing down a recompression chamber. If what you are saying is that catastrophic decompression can kill someone, well ... then you'd be right. But that was never at issue. What was at issue is the veracity of a story in which a hatch failure caused the death of a woman who was being treated for DCS as a result of having to abort a 300 foot dive, a tale that I find hightly unlikely.

 

[bleeb]

I wonder what the total mass of gas dissolved in tissues would have been.

Alright. Had to get out another envelope.

Average solubility of air in water at 1 ata and room temp: roughly 0.02 g/kg
At 9 atm, that would be an extra 0.18 g/kg
Average body mass: 70 kg
Roughly assuming 80% H2O: 10 g of air
Density of air at body temp and 1 ata: 1.1 g/L

Initial body volume: roughly 70 L
Volume increase from decompression: 9.1 L

Doesn't sound like a huge amount, but would partly depend on how fast things happened. Shock waves are funny things.

Sorry if this is getting too morbid for anyone.