Helium prices and shortage

[60plus]

Is anyone considering switching to hydrogen as an alternative?

 

[Brett Hatch]

From Powell's Deco For Divers (pg 136 in the 2nd edition)

Hydrogen suffers from a major disadvantage as a breathing gas in that when mixed with oxygen percentages over 4% it becomes explosive. A gas mixture with less than 4% oxygen will not support life on the surface and in fact only becomes breathable below 35m. This means that a higher oxygen content mix must be breathed down to at least 35m. This is followed by a second mix which contains 4% oxygen and some combination of nitrogen and/or helium. This second mix acts as a buffer, reducing the oxygen content in the presence of an inert gas to the point where the diver can switch to a mixture of 4% oxygen and 96% hydrogen. Despite the logistical problems involved with using hydrogen there is a long history of experiments in using hydrogen in a breathing mix. This is because hydrogen is the lightest element and as such is the least dense gas at depth which makes it very easy to breathe even at extreme depths.

Anyway, I don't dive mix, so I'll leave it to the folks who do. But I dunno man, I'd be concerned.

 

[divingx]

I would think the cost of a fill station that can safely handle compressed Hydrogen is a lot higher than Helium

 

[Robert H. Diver]

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I don't own a rebreather, but it's starting to make more and more sense for deeper dives that I dream of doing. That's sounds a lot more feasible than Hydrogen, lol.

 

[kammel78]

I knew a guy did Hydrogen dive testing for a company. Like above, goodish for really deep but not practical for so many obvious reasons.​

 

[runsongas]

in addition to the handling hazards, there are reports from hydrox/hydreliox testing that hydrogen is psychotropic at high partial pressures which negates some of the cost advantage as you can't fully replace helium with it. it also has issues with embrittlement and anodic corrosion for steel and aluminum.

 

[60plus]

I have handled hydrogen quite a lot for plasma cutting, yes it is explosive but no more so than acetylene. I had two colleagues blown up when the plasma cutter failed. They took the cover off and were pressing the start button when it exploded. A hydrogen pipe had come off. Both got away with cuts and bruises from being blown across the Workshop. One could remember nothing, the other said all he saw was a big orange light.

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

Have just heard read that the Wetmules have just returned from a Pearse Resurgence trip where they conducted their first deep technical dive using hydrogen as a breathing gas. No doubt more details will be released in the near future.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

just tagging @Dr Simon Mitchell here in case he can provide any info

hopefully Harry does another narration video about the trip also