DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Case on the Death of Scuba Diver by Analyzing the Air in Nitrox Cylinder

Nitrox 공기통의 기체 분석에 의한 스쿠버다이버 사망원인 추정에 관한 사례연구

  • 이준배 (국립과학수사연구원 동부분원 이화학과) ;
  • 유재훈 (국립과학수사연구원 동부분원 이화학과) ;
  • 손성건 (국립과학수사연구원 동부분원 이화학과) ;
  • 성태명 (국방부 조사본부 이화학과) ;
  • 팽기정 (연세대학교 화학 및 의화학과)
  • Received : 2011.02.09
  • Accepted : 2011.04.14
  • Published : 2011.04.30

Abstract

Going underwater is supposed to begin with the history of human beings. At first it was confined to relatively shallow level, less than several meters by holding breath. Recently, deep level diving has been necessary for such purpose as construction, maritime salvage, military operations, research and sports by using SCUBA(self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) equipment. As one goes down into water, the pressure on the diver is increased due to water pressure with depth, usually 1 atm for each 10 m water level. In deep water, mixed gas or nitrox(EAN, enriched air nitrox) could be applied for the divers lest they should get disease due to high pressure. Of these, the former is usually composed of oxygen and inert gas like helium or hydrogen, the latter contains higher oxygen content than that in normal air in which the oxygen concentration is designated by the character "EAN" followed by vol. % of oxygen, for example, "EAN 40" contains 40% of oxygen. In this case, a victim was found at the 39 m below the sea surface breathing air and nitrox in cylinder wrongly marked as EAN 36, which was analyzed to contain 63% of oxygen by GC/TCD. The cause of death could not be exactly related with the oxygen content in the nitrox cylinder, because the accurate depth for the victim to dive was not known, even though the victim was just found at the depth of 39 m. However, the wrongly marked nitrox could be believed to be the main cause of the death at the depth unless there happened any other accident except that during diving.

Keywords

References

  1. 임채현, 조대환, "해양레져활동으로서 스킨스쿠버다이빙의 제도적 현황 고찰", 해양환경안전학회지, pp. 63-68, 2009.
  2. Steven S. Zumdahl, "Chemistry", 3rd ed., D. C. Heath and Company, 1993.
  3. John Scott, "The hygiene of work in compressed air", p. 1694, Lancet, Dec. 14, 1907.
  4. 김도현, "우리나라 산업잠수의 현황과 발전방안", 한국 해양대학교, 1999
  5. Direction of Commander, "U.S. Navy Diving Manual", Naval Sea Systems Command, 2008.
  6. 김상겸, "스포츠스쿠버다이빙", 씨코, 2004.
  7. Ian A. Fowlis, "Gas Chromatography", 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 1995.
  8. 한국전력공사 보령화력발전소, "발전편람", 1988.
  9. Christopher H Lawrence, "A diving due to oxygen toxicity during "technical" dive", The Medical Journal of Australia, Vol. 165, pp. 262-263, 1996.
  10. J.M. Smith, H.C. Van Ness, M.M. Abott, "Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, 5th ed.", McGraw Hill, 1996.
  11. 이준배, 이진훈, 김명덕, "호흡용 압축공기통 중분말에 관한 사례연구", 제12회 사단법인 한국법과학회 추계학술대회 초록집, 국립과학수사연구소, p. 199, 2005.