ASHRAE Journal Air Quality

Air Conditioning
In Submarines
By Richard W. Trent Besides the equipment-related contami-
Member ASHRAE nant, the HVAC design engineer must deal
with the garbage, laundry lint, cooking

A
contaminants, people odors, seweage,
modern submarine such as the U.S. Navy’s Seawolf (SSN-21), is
and chemical leakage.
the culmination of progressive developments tried and proven on Actual design heating and cooling loads
prior submarines. Such vessels have evolved as ships that normally for the Seawolf are not readily available in
the literature. However, based on opera-
operate in a submerged condition, but when required will function like a ship tional experience of similar size nuclear
on the surface. submarines, some reasonable assump-
tions can be made regarding the size and
Because a modern submarine when power when underway on nuclear power. type of installed air-conditioning equip-
operating in its normal submerged mode It is equipped with a battery compartment ment, as well as the probable cooling load
cannot exchange the air inside the hull and an auxiliary diesel engine that can be of this submarine. Such factors as ambient
with the clean air of the atmosphere used in lieu of nuclear power. When at or heat loads from electronic and electrical
above the sea, it must instead create an near the surface it can run the diesel en- equipment, propulsion plant size, crew size
artificial atmosphere. Since the vessel gine with air from the atmosphere. In this and hull size also must be considered.
must be capable of remaining submerged condition it can exchange air with the at- Whether the electrical equipment is
for extensive periods, the need for a suit- mosphere and furnish conditioned air for water-cooled or chilled water-cooled be-
able comfortable healthy environment is its crew and other fresh air needs. At the comes important during load calculation.
essential for the people living on board dock or on shore power it can run its aux- Casualty contingency factors such as
the submarine. iliary equipment and exchange air as steam leakage load or loss of power must
Such is the challenge to those respon- needed with the atmosphere. The spaces be considered. Ambient comfort factors
sible for the design of the HVAC&R sys- inside the submarine can be ventilated, in machinery spaces and living spaces
tems on board. heated, air-conditioned or refrigerated enter into fan and cooling coil sizing to
Just how do they do it? What equip- using specially designed marine versions meet specifications for temperature and
ment have they developed to create and of equipment one would expect to find in humidity levels. All onboard contami-
maintain this artificial atmosphere in a modern facility ashore. nants must be addressed to ensure a
which a crew of a 100 or more people is However, when this vessel submerges healthy sealed boat environment.
expected to live for an extended time into its true under-the-sea environment, It is estimated the Seawolf is most prob-
period? How do they control the envi- it must create a safe internal atmosphere
ronment? How does it differ from that to remain submerged and undetected for About the Author
found in a modern shore-side air-condi- long periods. Now, consider the compli- Richard W. Trent is president of
tioned building? This article identifies cations associated with a submarine such Carolina Heat Pipe, Charleston, S.C.
and explores some of the available equip- as the Seawolf. It is jammed with heat He is the vice chair of ASHRAE Stan-
ment, techniques and methods. and off-gassing equipment and materials, dards Project Committee SPC 151P,
as well as the ongoing air contamination Practices for Measurement, Testing,
Air-Conditioning System Design resulting from the presence of 130 people Adjusting and Balancing of Shipboard
A modern nuclear-powered submarine living in a 353 ft long and 40 ft wide (108 Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning
is equipped with an unlimited source of m by 12 m) cylinder for months at a time. and Refrigeration Systems.
20 ASHRAE Journal w w w. a s h r a e j o u r n a l . o r g January 2001
 Air Quality

Figure 2: CO2 scrubber.

gases. Maximum water content of air is 4% (in the tropics).
Figure 1: Oxygen generating plant. Submarines maintain atmospheric air content using the follow-
ing specialty equipment:
ably fitted out with two ship sets of two very quiet centrifugal
chillers. The maximum normal underway cooling load is most Oxygen Supply Systems
likely in the order of 150 to 200 tons (528 to 703 kW). The vessel Oxygen in the submarine may be replenished while sub-
can probably get along on one chiller but instead divides the merged by bleeding a controlled amount into the boat. The
normal load between two chillers. A second ship set of two chill- oxygen source may be an oxygen generating plant, stored oxy-
ers is most likely available as redundant capacity. Ship service gen, or oxygen candles. The oxygen generating plant is an
generators provide power to the chiller prime movers. Air han- unlimited source of safe and reliable breathable oxygen manu-
dlers deliver temperature controlled air to the various load cen- factured through water electrolysis that uses a solid polymer
ters for proper humidity and temperature control. Terminal elec- electrolyte cell. A catalyst impregnated plastic diaphragm serves
trical heat is most likely used extensively. as the electrolyte and separator. The plant is microprocessor-
The Seawolf probably has an internal volume of 350,000 to controlled and can go through shutdown, purge and restart to
400,000 ft3 (9900 to 11 300 m3). If the cooling load is 200 tons full operation in about 15 minutes. The oxygen output of the
(703.4 kW), then kW/m3 is 0.07. plant can be bled into the submarine or stored in oxygen banks
while the hydrogen by-product is disposed in a safe manner.
Equipment Considerations
Since steam and electricity are readily available, the use of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Removal System
heating by hot water, steam, or resistance heat is not a problem. During submerged operations, carbon dioxide is normally
Cooling with lithium bromide absorption machines and cen- removed by CO2 scrubbers. In an emergency, lithium hydrox-
trifugal chillers have been extensively used in the past. Other ide canisters may also be used. The scrubber uses a
industry accepted equipment such as rotary screw compres- monoethanolamine (MEA) solution to remove the CO2 by inti-
sors, scroll compressors, pumps, fans, and electronic filtration mate contact between the process air and recirculating MEA,
also are worthy of a designer’s consideration. The ability to in the absorber and between released steam and CO2 and de-
control temperature and humidity in all spaces and compart- scending MEA, in the boiler stripper. Because of the corrosive
ments is paramount along with compartment isolation should and toxic nature of monoethanolamine, great care has to be
disaster strike. This, in turn, dictates the need for a centralized taken to avoid its entry into the submarine’s atmosphere.
control system with redundant standby equipment.
Because a submarine must recirculate and maintain the qual- Electrostatic Precipitators
ity of the air within the hull, filtration and strict control of pollut- To remove particles of one micron and below electrostatic
ants become absolute mission critical activities. This requires precipitators are used. The ionizer plates apply an electrical
the employment of specialty equipment that will manufacture charge to suspend particles that are then collected on ground
oxygen from seawater, scrub carbon dioxide from the recirculat- plates. The dirty plates are periodically cleaned ultrasonically
ing air and filter undesirable gases from this same air. or at a cleaning station. Since the electrostatic precipitator is
At sea level, the atmosphere is a composed of dry air that potentially a major source of ozone due to arcing, great care
consists by volume of approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxy- must be taken to avoid sparking while operating the precipita-
gen, with small quantities of carbon dioxide, ozone and the inert tor at its required voltage and settings.
January 2001 ASHRAE Journal 21
ASHRAE Journal
Vent Fog Precipitators
Airborne oil mist from turbo generator lube oil sumps and
bearing casing vents are removed with a vent fog precipitator.
Like the electrostatic precipitator this equipment takes oil laden
air and positively charges its particles of oil which are then
deposited on a grounded wall tube and drain back to the oil
sump from which they came.

Prefilters
Prefilters are used to prevent larger size (greater than 10 mi-
crons) size particles from entering the precipitators.

Carbon Monoxide - Hydrogen (CO-H2) Burners

A vital part of a submarine’ air purification is the CO-H2 burner
that is used for the reduction of carbon monoxide, hydrogen,
and hydrocarbon contaminants. A CO-H2 burner uses catalytic
combustion, to convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and
water. Heated air is passed over a bed of material called Hopcalite.
Should a refrigerant leak on board occur, the CO2 burner would
react to it. However a partial oxidation of hydrocarbons moving
over rather than through the catalyst bed may result in toxic
byproducts. Chlorinated refrigerants such as R-12 and R-114
produce HF and HCL at acceptable levels while non-chlori-
nated refrigerants such as R-134a and R-236fa produce toxic
compounds (HF) at 600°F (316°C) but acceptable levels at 500°F Figure 3: Carbon monoxide-hydrogen burner.
(260°C). See Figure 3 for airflow through a typical CO2 burner.
air to mechanical filters, electrostatic precipitators, activated char-
Lithium Carbonate Filters coal filters, the CO2 removal system, and the CO-H2 burners. It
To further absorb acidic decomposition products (HF & HCL), equalizes atmospheric gas concentrations and circulates revital-
a lithium carbonate filter is located downstream of the CO2 ized air. It brings air into the submarine while surfaced or snorkel-
burner. Often, the filter bed of lithium carbonate is renewed with ing to provide air for the diesel engine, low-pressure blower and
on-board generated lithium carbonate by passing carbon diox- air revitalization. It ventilates the battery compartment, circulates
ide over filled LIOH canister receptacles. Commercial lithium cool dehumidified air through the missile control compartments
carbonate is not used because it does not have the proper non- and navigation equipment, provides emergency ventilation over-
dusting properties. board and dilutes concentrated oxygen at the oxygen bleeder
reducers by dispersion throughout the submarine.
Activated Charcoal Filters
Activated coconut shell charcoal (activated carbon) is used Contamination Source Control
to remove contaminant gases through the process of capillary While not exactly equipment, the most effective means of
attraction and adsorption. Adsorption is dominant for organic reducing or eliminating toxic contaminants in a submarine at-
compounds like hydrocarbons. The retentivity limit of the car- mosphere is a strong source-control program.2 Such a program
bon under conditions common to the ventilation is the practical must include material testing and control as well as diligent
saturation limit of the activated charcoal. Because the carbon submarine housekeeping. Specifically, volatile hydrocarbons
adsorption process results in a lower molecular weight gas or such as spilled lube oil or hydraulic oil or leaking diesel fuel
vapor being displaced by higher molecular weight gas or vapor, should be wiped up promptly to reduce the amount of volatile
the main carbon bed may lose its ability to remove undesirable substances that can become airborne.
lower molecular weight compounds from a submarine’s atmo-
sphere. When the carbon is determined to be saturated, it must Summary
be replaced from an on-board supply. Activated charcoal filters Experience on-board submarines has shown hydrocarbon con-
are used in the main ventilation bed, water closet filters, sani- centrations can be maintained at the level of one or two parts per
tary vents, and plumbing filter vents. million using the equipment described earlier, by discipline, the
controlled use of solvents, by eliminating the use of oil-based
The Ventilation System paints and by following strict painting procedures before sealed
The ventilation system includes both heating and air condi- boat activities are begun. Some of the preventable measures in-
tioning. It moves conditioned air throughout all compartments of clude close surveillance and logging in all material brought aboard
the submarine. The system circulates cooled, heated and dehu- as well as controlling the time, place and amount of controlled
midified air. It moves exhaust air and sends stale or contaminated material usage.
22 ASHRAE Journal w w w. a s h r a e j o u r n a l . o r g January 2001
 Air Quality
These are only some of the tools available to those who must to many substances based on chronic toxicity with guidance from the
design and create a safe and healthy environment on a subma- Committee on Toxicology of the National Academy of Sciences.
rine. 4. Jones, L.B. ‘The tourist submarine industry” Summarizes devel-
The quality of a submarine’s air can be analyzed using infrared opment of an emerging industry. The industry includes 48 purpose built
tourist submarines and seven commercial deep submersibles that have
spectrophotometers, mass spectrometry, paramagnetics, thermal
been converted to carrying passengers. Today these submarines provide
conductivity, photoionization, and colorimetric detection. Analy- approximately 2 million passengers each year with the opportunity to
sis results can be compared to previous data levels and used to view the undersea world from an air-conditioned atmosphere.
determine maintenance procedures such
as changing of the activated carbon bed.
A variety of instruments using these prin-
ciples are employed on-board submarines
to sample the on-board atmosphere.
Such instruments as central atmo-
spheric monitor, trace gas analyzer, hy-
drogen detector, portable atmospheric
monitor, portable oxygen analyzer, mine
safety appliance indicator, colorimetric
detection tubes and detector pump
testers are used. They may be used prior
to submerging or while submerged. They
can be used to monitor unaffected
spaces in event of a fire, or locations
undergoing refrigerant handling and
charging operations.3
Today, we have a variety of specialty
submarines. Their purpose may be less
complicated than keeping world peace
through deterrent patrols and more mis-
sion specific. However, at least some of
the equipment or variations of the equip- Advertisement for the print edition formerly in this space.
ment described above must be utilized
on a submarine so its crew can function
in a safe internal atmosphere as mankind
continues to explore and expand the use
of the surface covered by ocean waters.

References
1. Foltz, D. 1990. “The design of air con-
ditioning and ventilating systems for nuclear
submarines since Nautilus”. Society of Na-
val Architects and Marine Engineers
(SNAME). It discusses the history of sub-
marine air conditioning system development
since the Nautilus and the factors consid-
ered for equipment selection.
2. Smith, D. and K. Ung. “Leveraging ac-
tive submarine force and new attack subma-
rine hazardous material control and minimi-
zation programs”. Wavelengths excerpt de-
scribes commodities evaluated for strict con-
trol in a submarines closed environment. In-
cluded are adhesives, paints, solvents and
insulating materials.
3. Weathersby, P.K. and R.S. Lillo. 1996.
“Assumptions in setting air quality stan-
dards for naval undersea environments” So-
ciety for Risk Analysis 1996 Annual Meet-
ing paper. It describes safe exposure levels

January 2001 ASHRAE Journal 23