Oxygen depletion in enclosed spaces

Figures & data

Table 1. Oxygen levels, pressures and corresponding danger level (Standard Club 2017).

		Danger levels
Partial pressure in kPa and oxygen %	Absolute pressure in kPa in container	Dangers at various O2 levels
20.9	101.325	Oxygen centration in normal air
19.5	99.925	Minimum permissible oxygen level
19	99.425	Decreasing ability to work
15	95.425	Problems for persons with coronary pulmonary or circulatory problems
14	94.425	Respiration further increases in rate & depth
11	91.425	Poor judgement, blue lips
10	90.425	Mental failure, fainting, unconsciousness
9	89.425	ashen face, nausea, and vomiting
8	88.425	Recovery still possible after 4 or 5 min
6	86.425	Fatal after 8 min
5	85.425
0	80.425

Figure 1. (a) Oxygen depletion in closed containment, (b) oxygen depletion in open vented containment and (c) oxygen depletion in chain locker.

Table 2. Summary of oxygen depletion under different experimental scenarios.

		Time and standard deviation (in h) for oxygen level to reduce to
	Temperature	19.5% O2	10% O2	6% O2
Closed Containment Experiment	10°C	1.45±0.6	18.08±7.6	25.30±9.9
Closed Containment Experiment	23°C	0.3±0.1	1.56±0.7	2.41±0.9
Open Vented Experiment	10°C	1.91±0.7	24.06±6.0	38.84±10.5
Open Vented Experiment	23°C	0.84±0.3	5.68±1.3	8.03±1.7
Chain Locker Experiment	10°C	4.53±1.6	38.48±7.6	58.17±10.1
Chain Locker Experiment	23°C	2.05±0.4	17.25±2.4	27.17±6.1

The Standard Club. 2017. A master guide to enclosed space entry. Aug. p 9, London, UK: Charles Taylor & Co. Limited.

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