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Originally Posted by MarkShot
I just got finished reading about all the air services on a fleet boat. Next to electrical power; nothing was as critical and all encompassing as air services. In fact, it appears that air drive was favored over electrical when there was choice due to simplicity, reliability, and the low impact nature thus reducing need for maintenance.
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The nice thing about air is that it is EASY to store and there is a huge amount of potential energy in it at high pressures. It takes nothing to KEEP it stored. When all else fails, air WILL flow when you open the valve. The only bad thing is you have to keep the moisture out of it, otherwise you can freeze the pipes solid.
As you stated, with reducers you only have to have one main system pressure and then step it down to the pressure that you need. We even used it to breathe in emergencies by hooking into it with what we called EAB's (Emergency Air Breathers) that had a demand regulator that you attached to your belt. We just called it 'sucking rubber'
The one BAD thing about using air is that it exhausts into the pressure hull. Over time this raises the pressure in the boat and you have to run air compressors to put it back in the tanks.
It can make for some pretty interesting atmospheric conditions in the boat as you change air densities and such. I have been in conditions where the air pressure is the same as the dead sea, yet the O2 content (partial pressure) is approaching the summit of Mount Everest. A butane cigarette lighter could NOT light due to the low O2 content