Water-Cooled Dive Compressor Systems

The answer to this question is simply that overheating issues are amplified dramatically when nitrox is introduced into the mix. We witnessed many catastrophic system failures on live-aboard dive boats, at resort dive shops and on yachts. Eleven years ago, Nitrox Solutions began development on a series of water-cooled compressors specifically designed to address and solve the compressor heat issues.

Water cooling a compressor is suggested for several reasons...

1. Any oil lubricated compressor that is used to compress nitrox should be water-cooled to reduce the risks of catastrophic failure.
2. Any compressor located in a poorly ventilated area should be water-cooled to remove excessive heat buildup.
3. Water-cooled compressors run at a much lower operating temperature which extends the life of the compressor.
4. Water cooling improves the efficiency and extends the life of low and high pressure filtration systems.
5. Water-cooled compressors can be installed in areas that may be unsuitable for an air-cooled compressor.
6. Water-cooled compressors can be packaged in smaller, self contained, custom cabinets utilizing less space and lower ventilation requirements for the system.

The water-cooled compressor utilizes the ship’s chilled water system to cool the compressors indirectly through a flat plate heat exchanger and a closed loop cooling system which isolates the compressor cooling system from the ship's cooling system. This isolated exchanger and closed loop system ensures that if any compressor issues should arise, they will not affect the vessel's cooling system. The flat plate heat exchanger is the “firewall” that isolates the central AC from the compressor(s). The flat plate system adds additional components which in turn add more cost, but you gain a prized confidence that a high pressure air leak will not affect the ships cooling system.

THE ISOLATED WATER COOLING SYSTEM PROVIDES THE VESSEL’S ENGINEER OR DIVE OFFICER WITH CONFIDENCE THAT THE DIVE COMPRESSOR WILL RUN RELIABLY AND EFFICIENTLY WITHOUT IMPACTING THE EXISTING CHILLER WATER SYSTEM.

A recent installation of a water-cooled compressor on a private yacht was done because a heat problem. The compressor was in the Bosun’s locker and on a hot day the temperature would reach 55 Centigrade in the locker compartment. After only 108 hours, the valves on the HP compressor were destroyed. After the HP compressor was replaced with the water-cooled HP compressor the Bosun’s locker remained at ambient temperature with both the HP and LP Nitrox compressors operating. With the chilled water circulating through the heads and inter coolers, there was virtually no heat coming off the HP compressor. “At 4500 psig you can hold your hand on the HP compressor head and discharge tubing”. The higher density of water makes it a far better medium for cooling any compressor instead of air cooling. Water-cooling is the most innovative and safest technology for compressor systems in the marketplace today.