Recompression Chamber Noise

Divers are routinely exposed to noise at levels which in atmospheric air would be considered completely unacceptable. Hyperbaric diving chambers are used to compress divers prior to them undertaking work, or for the divers to live in during "sat" diving. The noise encountered during operation of recompression chambers has been isolated as a significant contributor of noise exposure to divers.

The submersible recording package shown on the right is capable of taking sensitive recording equipment into the hazardous high pressure environment of recompression chambers to log the levels of noise to which divers are exposed. The acoustic response of the transducers is not affected by the high pressures of these environments.

The graph above shows the noise levels recorded both inside (hyperbaric noise) and outside of a chamber (atmospheric noise) during operation. During this time the chamber was internally pressurised to the equivalent pressure of 50 metres of seawater by the inflow of high pressure air. The noise produced by the flow of air into the chamber exceeded 100dB(A). After about 200 seconds the high pressure air was then released from inside the chamber, and the noise levels caused by the outflow of air exceeded 107dB(A).