Sore throat from dry compressed air

[skippy311]

Greetings!
I dive on a daily basis. These days we are using air conditioners. Today after some pool time, I went to my second job. After about 4 hours of speaking, my throat became sore as in it hurts to speak.
My question is; can compressor air be "dry"(?) and be a cause of a sore throat?
Many thanks and HAPPY FRIDAY!

 

[tbone1004]

@skippy311 compressed air IS dry. VERY dry. The extreme pressure of the gas requires that the dew point be well below 0 in order to prevent moisture in the tanks and the gas is practically speaking 0.0% relative humidity.
Unfortunately on open circuit scuba there really is nothing you can do to fix that. There are some breathing techniques that you can use that may help *slow breathing is less bad than fast inhales*, but the biggest thing is making sure that you are really well hydrated before you get in the water and try to encourage saliva formation.

 

[skippy311]

@skippy311 compressed air IS dry. VERY dry. The extreme pressure of the gas requires that the dew point be well below 0 in order to prevent moisture in the tanks and the gas is practically speaking 0.0% relative humidity.
Unfortunately on open circuit scuba there really is nothing you can do to fix that. There are some breathing techniques that you can use that may help *slow breathing is less bad than fast inhales*, but the biggest thing is making sure that you are really well hydrated before you get in the water and try to encourage saliva formation.

Chew gum and no coffee, got it!

Further question, what about fire suppression systems in compression rooms?
(thanks btw!)

edit: I was told about a moisture 2nd stage adapter?

 

[tbone1004]

Chew gum and no coffee, got it!

Further question, what about fire suppression systems in compression rooms?
(thanks btw!)

edit: I was told about a moisture 2nd stage adapter?

what about fire suppression systems? They're not exactly prone to lighting themselves on fire, and if it's an O2 fire from boosting there's nothing you can do anyway, so whatever standard sprinklers and fire extinguishers you have to have for building regulations is probably fine.

Apollo makes something that you basically put water into a wick and it supposedly adds moisture back to the gas as it goes through. It's big, expensive, and I'm rather dubious about it's efficacy since it isn't in wide use.

 

[ibj40]

edit: I was told about a moisture 2nd stage adapter?

My wife and I both dive Sherwood Oasis regulators, which have stainless steel vanes to capture the moisture in your breathing to help with this.

 

[skippy311]

what about fire suppression systems? They're not exactly prone to lighting themselves on fire, and if it's an O2 fire from boosting there's nothing you can do anyway, so whatever standard sprinklers and fire extinguishers you have to have for building regulations is probably fine.

Apollo makes something that you basically put water into a wick and it supposedly adds moisture back to the gas as it goes through. It's big, expensive, and I'm rather dubious about it's efficacy since it isn't in wide use.

thanks for the information. those poor astronauts

 

[lexvil]

Hydration, I use coffee

 

[tbone1004]

thanks for the information. those poor astronauts

In space suits, astronauts are using closed circuit rebreathers, functionally identical to what we use for CCR diving. Your breath is 100% relative humidity, and the chemical reaction from the CO2 scrubber produces heat and water. The gas in a breathing loop is warm and at 100% relative humidity.
In the space stations and submarines they use essentially the same system so the air is anything but cold and dry. For those systems, they will actually have dehumidifiers to prevent it from getting uncomfortable for the personnel to breathe, but also to prevent condensation from forming on absolutely everything, in particular the computer systems...

 

[skippy311]

Hydration, I use coffee

mmmmmm.... coffee ^^

 

[skippy311]

In space suits, astronauts are using closed circuit rebreathers, functionally identical to what we use for CCR diving. Your breath is 100% relative humidity, and the chemical reaction from the CO2 scrubber produces heat and water. The gas in a breathing loop is warm and at 100% relative humidity.
In the space stations and submarines they use essentially the same system so the air is anything but cold and dry. For those systems, they will actually have dehumidifiers to prevent it from getting uncomfortable for the personnel to breathe, but also to prevent condensation from forming on absolutely everything, in particular the computer systems...

Where is Jaques Cousteau when you need him?