Dr Deco
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From Beck; 11-12-00
NEON as a dive gas - - -
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Dr Deco
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Hello Beck:
Neon was test in the Laboratories of Ocean Systems when I was there in the 1970s. The idea behind this was that its decompression characteristics would be somewhat similar to helium but that it was available everywhere in the world. Helium is found primarily in the southwest United States and must be shipped everywhere it is used. NEON on the other hand, is a byproduct of the distillation of liquid air. This liquid is manufactured all over the world to prepare liquid oxygen for industrial processes and for liquid nitrogen for refrigeration.
What one actually obtains is a mixture of neon and helium and is called crude neon. The crude was used in a series of experiments with pigs. The results indicated that it was a good gas for diving and decompression (some studies were performed with humans). The studies in which Doppler bubble detection was used is in the following references. {MR Powell, RW Hamilton, Jr., D.J. Kenyon. Comparison of helium, neon, and neon-nitrogen mixtures for diving. Undersea Biomed. Res., 1 (1), A7 (1974).; MR Powell. Doppler ultrasound monitoring of venous gas bubbles in pigs following decompression from helium, neon, and air. Aerospace Med., 45, 505-508 (1974).}
Neon is good for deep diving but does not have any advantages or properties for recreational diving. It also expensive and would be used commercially in closed rebreather systems.
Argon is a gas that is too soluble in fatty tissue, produces so many decompression bubbles, that it is potentially lethal, that it is not used for a breathing gas. :boom: It is used by some to fill their dry suits, however, because of its thermal characteristics.
Neon was test in the Laboratories of Ocean Systems when I was there in the 1970s. The idea behind this was that its decompression characteristics would be somewhat similar to helium but that it was available everywhere in the world. Helium is found primarily in the southwest United States and must be shipped everywhere it is used. NEON on the other hand, is a byproduct of the distillation of liquid air. This liquid is manufactured all over the world to prepare liquid oxygen for industrial processes and for liquid nitrogen for refrigeration.
What one actually obtains is a mixture of neon and helium and is called crude neon. The crude was used in a series of experiments with pigs. The results indicated that it was a good gas for diving and decompression (some studies were performed with humans). The studies in which Doppler bubble detection was used is in the following references. {MR Powell, RW Hamilton, Jr., D.J. Kenyon. Comparison of helium, neon, and neon-nitrogen mixtures for diving. Undersea Biomed. Res., 1 (1), A7 (1974).; MR Powell. Doppler ultrasound monitoring of venous gas bubbles in pigs following decompression from helium, neon, and air. Aerospace Med., 45, 505-508 (1974).}
Neon is good for deep diving but does not have any advantages or properties for recreational diving. It also expensive and would be used commercially in closed rebreather systems.
Argon is a gas that is too soluble in fatty tissue, produces so many decompression bubbles, that it is potentially lethal, that it is not used for a breathing gas. :boom: It is used by some to fill their dry suits, however, because of its thermal characteristics.
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