We
at Gigglin' Marlin are proud to announce the completion of our new state
of the art Trimix Blending Fill System. This project required many years
of planning and preparation, hundreds of hours to complete. At a value of
nearly $80,000.00 it is the result of input from top gas blending diving
experts and is the finest blending station of its kind in our great state of
Texas. Here is a brief look into the creation of the system and how it works.
Gas
Blending
There are basically three methods to blend gas
for scuba. Partial Pressure Blending(Enriched Air Nitrtox-EANx), Continuous Gas
Blending with a Nitrox Stick(also EANx), and Nitrogen Separating Membrane(De
Nitrogenated Ait-DNAx)
How It Works
Before any work could be done, we looked at what
we wanted to achieve and the best options for it. Before the new system, we
were partial pressure blending Nitrox. This means we would put a specific
amount of 100% O2 into a tank then filled it with air. The resulting mix would
be the desired Nitrox percentage for the diver. While this method works very
well, and allowed EANx fills up to 100% for deco bottles, it is not the
quickest or most efficient way to fill Nitrox. We decided that installing a
Nitrox blending stick would allow even more versatility by allowing us to fill
premixed Nitrox from large gas storage banks.
This not only allows divers to wait for their Nitrox fills, it becomes
safer than injecting 100% oxygen through valves into cylinders.
By installing a Nitrox stick placed at the air
intake on our compressor, air is sucked into the top of the stick 100% O2 is
introduced. The Nitrox stick has a series of scaffolds inside that then forces
the air and O2 to mix together creating blended Nitrox. An oxygen analyzer is
located at the bottom of the stick to ensure the correct percentage is being
made. This Nitrox is then run through the compressor where it is sent to our
storage bottle system until it is needed. We have multiple storage banks for
32% and 36% ready for you when you need it.
System Creation
The first step in this process was obtaining a
Nitrox Stick while this sounds easy it is difficult to find a quality Nitrox
stick that accurately blends the gases. Once we obtained the Nitrox stick we began
running 100% oxygen gas rated piping to our compressor. Since the fill panel
and compressor are not in the same room it was quite tricky in planning out the
system.
Because this long run of PVC could over time
potentially create a strain on our compressor we knew that it could not be used
all the time when we were filling air storage and tanks. In order to remedy
this we created an additional air PVC intake. Both Nitrox and air intakes run
into a Y-valve that then goes to the compressor. Because air cannot be added at
the Y-valve we had to install a gate valves that could block the air intake
when we were filling Nitrox. Once this was all done it was just a matter of
plumbing in our new Nitrox storage bottles and running them to our fill panel.
The piece that makes our new system truly awesome
in our new 100% Oxygen clean Haskel pump. The Haskel is able to suck air out of
bottles so that no helium or oxygen is ever wasted. By plumbing our Nitrox and
Helium lines through the Haskel we ensure that all the gas we have could be
used.
Result
The filling process has been simplified by the
fact that each storage bottle holds a different percentage of O2 so that we can
fill Nitrox tanks directly. To fill Trimix we began by filling with Helium
first and then add the determined amount of Oxygen and Air to the mix. With the
addition of our new Analytical Industrial Inc. Trimix analyzer we can guarantee
accurate percentages in all our Nitrox and Trimix fills.
Come by the shop and check out our new system.
While you are here why not sign up for Nitrox or Trimix Specialties, or become
a gas blender so that you can enjoy this new system and all the benefits it
offers. Your first Nitrox fill is free with the purchase of a Nitrox Specialty!
We look forward to seeing you in the water soon!
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