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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] measurment of CO content.

That sounds like a great idea.. I now have some time on my hands,and
would e glad to try that experiement...   One question (as I am not up
on my chemical formulas), how does C02 affect the PH of water??, and
is there some way we could put some kind of a scale on this?? (this
color is this much C02)...  I'll try and round up the stuff, and see
what kind of results I get..
 dale.
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Hi again Dale,
I am glad that you are keen to have a go at this with me!
The CO2 dissolved in water will form Carbonic Acid (the same stuff
that gives mineral water its 'tang'), although the exact rate of the
reaction (I imagine) would depend on a range of things, among which
would be; 
Temperature (colder temperature would cause the reaction to progress
more slowly)
Pressure I am not exactly sure how this would affect it, but I would
guess that it would increase the reaction rate, but decrease the
solubility of CO2 in water...net rate..who knows?? but probably not
THAT much of a difference
and the water hardness (i.e. what kind of stuf is already dissolved in
the water..like Chlorine, purifing agents etc.) would decrease the
rate.

I therefore think it would be difficult to obtain an exact scale,
though I think it might be possible to get a kind of rough
'indication' of how loaded the cabin air is.  I would like to get an
estimate of how quickly (i.e. how sensitive) this method is, hence my
asking for your help.

As far as I could notice, when I bubbled expired air directly into the
water+methyl red solution, there were a few color transitions:
Pink -> faint pink -> transparant -> light yellow/orange -> orange
So if you do get this test running, orange color water would indicate
that you are breathing air that you have breathed at least once
already..(and probably time to surface and replace the air)
although It would be helpful to know how long it takes for the water
to turn orange in a real sub (hence my asking for your help!)


I think that is all!
Thanks for your help!, I look forward to hearing from you!
E.Muller