POWER AND ITS DISTRIBUTION 



Four types of power are used to perform 

 work in manned submersibles: Electric, 

 pneumatic, muscular and hydrostatic. Other 

 forces also assist the vehicle through its 

 mission, e.g., gravity and buoyancy, but the 

 discussion of these is beyond the scope of this 

 chapter. 



Electric power is the workhorse of the sub- 

 mersible fleet and batteries constitute the 

 most commonly used on-board electrical 

 source. Consequently, the major topic of this 

 chapter is batteries and the transfer of their 

 power to components and systems of a sub- 

 mersible. Pneumatic power, in the form of 

 compressed air, is used primarily to empty 

 ballast tanks of seawater; other uses are in 

 pressure compensation systems and lock-out 



chambers. Human muscle power is a signifi- 

 cant source in shallow diving submersibles 

 but less so in deeper vehicles. Hydrostatic 

 power is used in the operation of pressure 

 depth gages (Chapter 10) and in the pressure 

 compensation of batteries and other compo- 

 nents; its application is discussed under 

 Pressure Compensation of batteries. 



MANUAL POWER 



According to Cohn and Wetch (1), an aver- 

 age man can generate 50 to 100 watts of 

 power for several hours before he is ex- 

 hausted; this averages to 1 watt-hour/pound, 

 and defines man as a low energy source. In 

 spite of his shortcomings, with the help of 



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