Kirby Air Control System, 5 manual Design Purpose

KMACS 5 MANUAL

to “suit” the term “dressed-in” has remained to describe putting the suit on. A diver who is “dressed- in” has a suit on. The term is also used to describe a diver who, in addition to his suit, has more, or all of his/her equipment on.

Bailout Bottle: This is the emergency tank of breathing gas. “Bailout” which is the familiar term for parachuting from an airplane, also applies to the shallow water diver who ditches part of his diving gear and swims to the surface. The “bailout” bottle term came from this use.

The bailout bottle is an independent air source con- nected directly to the diver’s mask or helmet via a first stage scuba regulator and hose. The first stage regulator must be equipped with an overpressure relief valve (Part #200-015). The overpressure relief valve will vent pressure in the event of a first stage leak and prevent the low pressure hose from rupturing, causing a complete loss of the diver’s bailout supply.

The bailout bottle is worn on the diver’s back, mounted to a harness. The diver’s umbilical should be attached to this harness to prevent a direct pull on the diver’s mask or helmet.

The size/volume of the bailout bottle should be determined by the diver’s depth, or the distance required for a direct ascent to the surface. For deeper dives, or penetration dives inside wrecks or pipelines, a larger capacity bailout bottle should be used.

Fig. 1 Divers with all of the gear they need to dive.

1.2 DESIGN PURPOSE

The Kirby Morgan Dive Control System 5 (KMACS

5)is designed to provide a central control center for the operator/dive supervisor during a surface- supplied air dive. Provisions for the control of the breathing air supply, diver depth monitoring, and voice communications are all located on a simple panel. The KMACS 5 is a full service control system for all Surface Supplied Air diving operations.

The KMACS 5 is fitted with shut off valves on the diver’s air supply. The shut off valves are designed to allow air to be shut off on either or both of the diver’s umbilicals. When the handles of the valves are vertical the valves are open and air is flowing to the divers. When the valve handles are horizontal the valves are shut and the air to the divers umbilicals is off.

By having total control located at one panel, the KMACS 5 operator can rapidly respond to the diver’s needs without leaving the control station. In a standard commercial SSAir diving operation the KMACS 5 provides a backup air supply system which the operator can activate in the event of the main air supply failure (such as compressor malfunc- tion). This can be accomplished without leaving the control panel, which allows the operator to inform the diver and continuously monitor umbilical supply pressure and depth at the same time.

The compact size of the KMACS 5 usually makes it possible to locate it at the water entry site, allow- ing the operator to tend the diver’s umbilical while maintaining control of the KMACS 5.

In addition to its compact size, the ability of the KMACS 5 to use high pressure air allows SSAir diving from small boats or remote locations where transportation and setup of a compressor would be impractical. Two or more standard scuba bottles can be used as the breathing air supply.

For example, when commercial divers are working on an offshore rig, a common SSAir diving job is the inspection and cleaning of a propeller on a crew boat. This job can be performed easily and simply with the KMACS 5, a couple of scuba bottles, a full face mask or helmet, and an umbilical. Transporta-

 © 2003 KMDSI Document # 041112001