WAn air compressor is a pneumatic device that converts power into potential energy stored in pressurized air. By one of several methods, an air compressor forces more and more air into a storage tank, increasing the pressure. When the tank's pressure reaches its engineered upper limit, the air compressor shuts off. The compressed air, then, is held in the tank until called into use. The energy contained in the compressed air can be used for a variety of applications, utilizing the kinetic energy of the air as it is released and the tank depressurizes. When tank pressure reaches its lower limit, the air compressor turns on again and re-pressurizes the tank. An air Compressor must be differentiated from a pump because it works for any gas/air, while pumps work on a liquid.
WAn airlock, air-lock or air lock, often abbreviated to just lock is a compartment with doors which can be sealed against pressure which permits the passage of people and objects between environments of differing pressure or atmospheric composition while minimizing the change of pressure in the adjoining spaces and mixing of environments. The lock consists of a relatively small chamber with two airtight doors in series which do not open simultaneously.
WA booster pump is a machine which will increase the pressure of a fluid. They may be used with liquids or gases, but the construction details will vary depending on the fluid. A gas booster is similar to a gas compressor, but generally a simpler mechanism which often has only a single stage of compression, and is used to increase pressure of a gas already above ambient pressure. Two-stage boosters are also made. Boosters may be used for increasing gas pressure, transferring high pressure gas, charging gas cylinders and scavenging.
WA built-in breathing system is a source of breathing gas installed in a confined space where an alternative to the ambient gas may be required for medical treatment, emergency use, or to minimise a hazard. They are found in diving chambers, hyperbaric treatment chambers, and submarines.
WA cascade filling system is a high pressure gas cylinder storage system which is used for the refilling of smaller compressed gas cylinders. In some applications, each of the large cylinders is filled by a compressor, otherwise they may be filled remotely and replaced when the pressure is too low for effective transfer. The cascade system allows small cylinders to be filled without a compressor. In addition, a cascade system is useful as a reservoir to allow a low-capacity compressor to meet the demand of filling several small cylinders in close succession, with longer intermediate periods during which the storage cylinders can be recharged.
WA diving chamber is a vessel for human occupation, which may have an entrance that can be sealed to hold an internal pressure significantly higher than ambient pressure, a pressurised gas system to control the internal pressure, and a supply of breathing gas for the occupants.
WA dive boat is a boat that recreational divers or professional scuba divers use to reach a dive site which they could not conveniently reach by swimming from the shore. Dive boats may be propelled by wind or muscle power, but are usually powered by internal combustion engines. Some features, like convenient access from the water, are common to all dive boats, while others depend on the specific application or region where they are used. The vessel may be extensively modified to make it fit for purpose, or may be used without much adaptation if it is already usable.
WA diver's pump is a manually operated low pressure air compressor used to provide divers in standard diving dress with air while they are underwater.
WA diving air compressor is a gas compressor that can provide breathing air directly to a surface-supplied diver, or fill diving cylinders with high-pressure air pure enough to be used as a breathing gas.
WA diving bell is a rigid chamber used to transport divers from the surface to depth and back in open water, usually for the purpose of performing underwater work. The most common types are the open-bottomed wet bell and the closed bell, which can maintain an internal pressure greater than the external ambient. Diving bells are usually suspended by a cable, and lifted and lowered by a winch from a surface support platform. Unlike a submersible, the diving bell is not designed to move under the control of its occupants, nor to operate independently of its launch and recovery system.
WA diving shot line, shot line, or diving shot, a type of downline or descending line, is an item of diving equipment consisting of a ballast weight, a line and a buoy. The weight is dropped on the dive site. The line connects the weight and the buoy and is used by divers to as a visual and tactile reference to move between the surface and the dive site more safely and more easily, and as a controlled position for in-water staged decompression stops. It may also be used to physically control rate of descent and ascent, particularly by surface-supplied divers.
WA diving support vessel is a ship that is used as a floating base for professional diving projects.
WA compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor.
WHopcalite is the trade name for a number of mixtures that mainly consist of oxides of copper and manganese, which are used as catalysts for the conversion of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide when exposed to the oxygen in the air at room temperature.
WA jackstay is a cable or bar between two points to support and guide a load between those points, or as an anchor to attach something to be constrained along that line. The term is mostly used in a marine context and originated on sailing ships. Note the use of "stay" implies load bearing working rigging. In diving it is also a line to guide the movements of a diver between the endpoints.
WCanoe diving and Kayak diving are recreational diving where the divers paddle to a diving site in a canoe or kayak carrying all their gear in or on the boat to the place they want to dive. Canoe or kayak diving gives the diver independence from dive boat operators, while allowing dives at sites which are too far to comfortably swim, but are sufficiently sheltered.
WLiveaboard can mean:Someone who makes a boat, typically a small yacht in a marina, their primary residence. Powerboats and cruising sailboats are commonly used for living aboard, as well as houseboats which are designed primarily as a residence. A boat designed for people to live aboard it. A boat used for recreational diving expeditions or cruises where the divers live on the boat for the duration of the cruise and use it as a diving support vessel.
WA moon pool is a feature of marine drilling platforms, drillships and diving support vessels, some marine research and underwater exploration or research vessels, and underwater habitats, in which it is also known as a wet porch. It is an opening in the floor or base of the hull, platform, or chamber giving access to the water below, allowing technicians or researchers to lower tools and instruments into the sea. It provides shelter and protection so that even if the ship is in high seas or surrounded by ice, researchers can work in comfort rather than on a deck exposed to the elements. A moon pool also allows divers or small submersible craft to enter or leave the water easily and in a more protected environment.
WA proton magnetometer, also known as a proton precession magnetometer (PPM), uses the principle of Earth's field nuclear magnetic resonance (EFNMR) to measure very small variations in the Earth's magnetic field, allowing ferrous objects on land and at sea to be detected.