A brief introduction to decompression chambers for diving.

A decompression chamber (also known as a recompression chamber) is an essential piece of equipment that helps divers undergo saturation diving, and it also serves as an important treatment for decompression sickness. When divers are at depth, they can develop decompression sickness—commonly referred to as "diver's disease" or "caisson disease"—due to changes in pressure. This condition typically arises when the body’s internal pressure drops abruptly as a result of a rapid decrease in the surrounding environmental pressure. It is both a diving hazard and a barotrauma. Below, we’ll briefly introduce how a decompression chamber works.

According to Henry’s Law, when the gas pressure above a liquid decreases, the amount of gas dissolved in the liquid also decreases. An example that illustrates this law is as follows: When you open a bottle or can of soft drink, gas bubbles immediately emerge from the liquid, forming visible bubbles. This release of carbon dioxide occurs because the pressure inside the container drops to atmospheric pressure.

A decompression chamber for diving functions similarly to giving... Pressurize the “bottle of cola” to prevent bubble formation, then slowly release the pressure within a safe range that avoids excessive bubbling, allowing the gas to escape gradually.

To ensure safe diving, it’s necessary to control the ascent rate and rise slowly, allowing the body sufficient time to eliminate gases and reduce the risk of decompression sickness. Diving decompression chambers are generally used for... Decompression-free dives exceeding 40 meters. The decompression time can even far exceed the duration of the dive itself. A dive to a depth of 100 meters lasting more than ten minutes might require as much as six hours of decompression.

In saturation diving, divers remain in a high-pressure environment for extended periods, during which the inert gas components in the breathing gases absorbed by various body tissues reach a state of complete saturation. Between dives, divers must remain in the same high-pressure environment. A decompression chamber (or recompression chamber) can provide them with a high-pressure working and living environment. Before all underwater operations are completed, decompression can be performed only once.