Air in tank marked Nitrox?

[do it easy]

Well what about 32% oxygen and 50% cyanide gas, and the remaining 18% can be mystery mix? Would you consider that safe to breath?

CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the breathing gas can cause hypercapnia- one of the symptoms of hypercapnia is unconsciousness, which can lead to drowning underwater, and then eventually death.

CO (carbon monoxide) in the breathing gas is poisonous, and can cause any number of ways to die, from unconsiousness to massive hemmoraging from the lungs, depending on the concentration. In short, these lead quickly to death.

Neither of these gases should be in any breathing mix in significant quantities, regardless of how much O2 is already in there.

Rec Diver, I hope you are kidding about this. If not, please look into this issue in greater detail.

Either of the above formulas would be fine to breath. A muxture of 32% Oxygen is very safe. Mixtures of oxygen below 14%, again I think this is correct, is unsafe.

You really have never done any scuba diving have you? Nor are you a certified diver? I think that when you get to high school you should ask your chemistry teacher how formulas, percentage of molecules, and test instruments work. I believe you are going to have a surprise awakening.

 

[lamont]

Actually a tank filled with carbon monoxide would have equal numbers of oxygen and carbon atoms.

All the O2 means is that the oxygen atom cannot stand alone as a molecule and thus must be bonded to another oxygen atom to stand alone.

so, oxygen never goes solo?

 

[The Kraken]

Well, 3dent,

There's "corruption" and then there's "corruption".

The concept behind "corruption" is that one has to presume that the supplying compressor is one that is not certified to fill O2 cleaned tanks due to the type of compressor, its lubricating methods and so forth.

If an O2 cleaned tank is filled with air from the aforementioned compressor it becomes contaminated or "corrupted" whether in fact it actually has - assuming on the side of safety.

However, there are many, many filling stations that have compressors that provide 21% oxygenated air that is O2 compatible. These are stations that do partial pressure fills: they put in so much pure O2 and then complete the fill generating the desired O2 percentage - thus allowing an O2 cleaned tank to be filled from a compressor with "normal" air. The quality of the air remains the same so the tank is not "contaminated" or "corrupted".

the K

 

[Rec Diver]

Well what about 32% oxygen and 50% cyanide gas, and the remaining 18% can be mystery mix? Would you consider that safe to breath?

CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the breathing gas can cause hypercapnia- one of the symptoms of hypercapnia is unconsciousness, which can lead to drowning underwater, and then eventually death.

CO (carbon monoxide) in the breathing gas is poisonous, and can cause any number of ways to die, from unconsiousness to massive hemmoraging from the lungs, depending on the concentration. In short, these lead quickly to death.

Neither of these gases should be in any breathing mix in significant quantities, regardless of how much O2 is already in there.

Rec Diver, I hope you are kidding about this. If not, please look into this issue in greater detail.

My point here is that I beleieve the percentage of gas inside a scuba tank is measureable, didn't we learn this in nitrox class? You therefore should test its quality. Without doing so, you could be risking your life. If you have a tank filled with CO the O2 analyzer will indicate an inadequate amount of oxygen within the tank, thus it should not be used.

By the way, I don't think cyanide could be introduced as easily or accidentally as carbon monoxide can.

 

[ScubaBabe22]

My point here is that I beleieve the percentage of gas inside a scuba tank is measureable, didn't we learn this in nitrox class? You therefore should test its quality. Without doing so, you could be risking your life. If you have a tank filled with CO the O2 analyzer will indicate an inadequate amount of oxygen within the tank, thus it should not be used.

By the way, I don't think cyanide could be introduced as easily or accidentally as carbon monoxide can.

OMG :06: I am going to have to crack open my old high school Chem book just to follow along and be informed!!!!! AH! :11:

 

[pants!]

Either of the above formulas would be fine to breath.

I'm sorry, you are totally incorrect.

A gas that is 32% O2, 2% CO, and 66% N2 will kill you in pretty short order.

It will analyze as 32% on your oxygen analyzer, and yet I can promise you that you will die breathing it.

 

[pants!]

My point here is that I beleieve the percentage of gas inside a scuba tank is measureable, didn't we learn this in nitrox class? You therefore should test its quality. Without doing so, you could be risking your life. If you have a tank filled with CO the O2 analyzer will indicate an inadequate amount of oxygen within the tank, thus it should not be used.

By the way, I don't think cyanide could be introduced as easily or accidentally as carbon monoxide can.

CO can end up in a tank in small quantities because CO is present in exhaust gas from gas-powered compressors and the like.

You can have the proper amount of oxygen, small amounts of CO, and you will never know about the CO unless you use a CO detector. 0.5% CO is enough to be lethal.

 

[Damselfish]

I'll give you the stickers are a means to segregate tanks. Given that and your above comments regarding other methods of identifying nitrox tanks, it just re-enforces my arguement that stickers are not the end-all be all that others have said.

Teach everyone to know what they are breathing and then do what is convienent for segragating tanks, be it stickers, valve caps, bands or whatnot.

I don't think it matters too much at a resort where it's all their tanks, as long as it's obvious and something that will be well understood (sticking with the standard bright green seems good, Barney purple not so much.) Stickers seem to be a pretty good and cheap way of accomplishing it, and when you're talking assorted personal tanks there's something to be said for standards - it's unlikely but someone diving air could have green tanks just because they liked them or green caps because that's just what they happened to buy. Ideally places that don't do the "standard" point it out in briefings. I think places that do colored caps or tanks do it because the stickers wear off in really heavy use, I've seen tanks with Nitrox stickers so worn off you could barely tell they'd been there. (I've also seen an op tie that bright green crime-scene type tape stuff around the neck, IMO that can get ripped off too easily to be reliable.)

 

[The Kraken]

so, oxygen never goes solo?

Well, that's what I was taught back in highschool chemistry.

Now, given that was 40 years ago, some things may have changed, but I don't think so.


the K ldman:

 

[pants!]

Oxygen atoms never last long by themselves. They either bind right up to each other or to something else in proximity.