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How Submarines Work

BY MARSHALL BRAIN & CRAIG FREUDENRICH, PH.D.

Diving and Surfacing

A submarine or a ship can float because the weight of water that it displaces is
equal to the weight of the ship. This displacement of water creates an upward
force called the buoyant force and acts opposite to gravity, which would pull the
ship down. Unlike a ship, a submarine can control its buoyancy, thus allowing it
to sink and surface at will.

To control its buoyancy, the submarine has ballast tanks and auxiliary, or trim
tanks, that can be alternately filled with water or air (see animation below). When
the submarine is on the surface, the ballast tanks are filled with air and the
submarine's overall density is less than that of the surrounding water. As the
submarine dives, the ballast tanks are flooded with water and the air in the
ballast tanks is vented from the submarine until its overall density is greater than
the surrounding water and the submarine begins to sink (negative buoyancy). A
supply of compressed air is maintained aboard the submarine in air flasks for life
support and for use with the ballast tanks. In addition, the submarine has
movable sets of short "wings" called hydroplanes on the stern (back) that help
to control the angle of the dive. The hydroplanes are angled so that water moves
over the stern, which forces the stern upward; therefore, the submarine is angled
downward.

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Buoyancy in a submarine. Click on the Surface and


Submerge
Buoyancy in a submarine. Click on the Surface and Submerge

buttons to watch buoyancy in action.


To keep the submarine level at any set depth, the submarine maintains a
balance of air and water in the trim tanks so that its overall density is equal to the
surrounding water (neutral buoyancy). When the submarine reaches its cruising
depth, the hydroplanes are leveled so that the submarine travels level through
the water. Water is also forced between the bow and stern trim tanks to keep the
sub level. The submarine can steer in the water by using the tail rudder to turn
starboard (right) or port (left) and the hydroplanes to control the fore-aft angle of
the submarine. In addition, some submarines are equipped with a
retractable secondary propulsion motor that can swivel 360 degrees.

When the submarine surfaces, compressed air flows from the air flasks into the
ballast tanks and the water is forced out of the submarine until its overall density
is less than the surrounding water (positive buoyancy) and the submarine rises.
The hydroplanes are angled so that water moves up over the stern, which forces
the stern downward; therefore, the submarine is angled upward. In an
emergency, the ballast tanks can be filled quickly with high-pressure air to take
the submarine to the surface very rapidly.
Working diagram:

Life Support
There are three main problems of life support in the closed environment of
submarine:

Maintaining the air quality


Maintaining a fresh water supply

Maintaining temperature

Maintaining the Air Quality


The air we breathe is made up of significant quantities of four gases:

Nitrogen (78 percent)

Oxygen (21 percent)

Argon (0.94 percent)

Carbon dioxide (0.04 percent)

When we breathe in air, our bodies consume its oxygen and convert it to carbon
dioxide. Exhaled air contains about 4.5 percent carbon dioxide. Our bodies do
not do anything with nitrogen or argon. A submarine is a sealed container that
contains people and a limited supply of air. There are three things that must
happen in order to keep air in a submarine breathable:

Oxygen has to be replenished as it is consumed. If the percentage of


oxygen in the air falls too low, a person suffocates.

Carbon dioxide must be removed from the air. As the concentration of


carbon dioxide rises, it becomes a toxin.

The moisture that we exhale in our breath must be removed.

Oxygen is supplied either from pressurized tanks, an oxygen generator (which


can form oxygen from the electrolysis of water) or some sort of "oxygen canister"
that releases oxygen by a very hot chemical reaction. (You may remember these
canisters because of their problems on the MIR space station -- see this page for
details). Oxygen is either released continuously by a computerized system that
senses the percentage of oxygen in the air, or it is released in batches
periodically through the day.
Carbon dioxide can be removed from the air chemically using soda lime (sodium
hydroxide and calcium hydroxide) in devices called scrubbers. The carbon
dioxide is trapped in the soda lime by a chemical reaction and removed from the
air. Other similar reactions can accomplish the same goal.

The moisture can be removed by a dehumidifier or by chemicals. This prevents it


from condensing on the walls and equipment inside the ship.

In addition, other gases such as carbon monoxide or hydrogen, which are


generated by equipment and cigarette smoke, can be removed by burners.
Finally, filters are used to remove particulates, dirt and dust from the air.

Maintaining a Fresh Water Supply


Most submarines have a distillation apparatus that can take in seawater and
produce fresh water. The distillation plant heats the seawater to water vapor,
which removes the salts, and then cools the water vapor into a collecting tank of
fresh water. The distillation plant on some submarines can produce 10,000 to
40,000 gallons (38,000 - 150,000 liters) of fresh water per day. This water is used
mainly for cooling electronic equipment (such as computers and navigation
equipment) and for supporting the crew (for example, drinking, cooking and
personal hygiene).

Maintaining Temperature
The temperature of the ocean surrounding the submarine is typically 39 degrees
Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius). The metal of the submarine conducts internal
heat to the surrounding water. So, submarines must be electrically heated to
maintain a comfortable temperature for the crew. The electrical power for the
heaters comes from the nuclear reactor, diesel engine, or batteries (emergency).
How Submarines Work
Power Supply

Nuclear submarines use nuclear reactors, steam turbines and reduction ge-
aring to drive the main propeller shaft, which provides the forward and reverse
thrust in the water (an electric motor drives the same shaft when docking or in an
emergency).

Submarines also need electric power to operate the equipment on board. To


supply this power, submarines are equipped with diesel engines that burn fuel
and/or nuclear reactors that use nuclear fission. Submarines also
have batteries to supply electrical power. Electrical equipment is often run off the
batteries and power from the diesel engine or nuclear reactor is used to charge
the batteries. In cases of emergency, the batteries may be the only source of
electrical power to run the submarine.

A diesel submarine is a very good example of a hybrid vehicle. Most diesel subs
have two or more diesel engines. The diesel engines can run propellers or they
can run generators that recharge a very large battery bank. Or they can work in
combination, one engine driving a propeller and the other driving a generator.
The sub must surface (or cruise just below the surface using a snorkel) to run the
diesel engines. Once the batteries are fully charged, the sub can head
underwater. The batteries power electric motors driving the propellers. Battery
operation is the only way a diesel sub can actually submerge. The limits
of batterytechnology severely constrain the amount of time a diesel sub can stay
underwater.

Because of these limitations of batteries, it was recognized that nuclear power in


a submarine provided a huge benefit. Nuclear generators need no oxygen, so a
nuclear sub can stay underwater for weeks at a time. Also, because nuclear fuel
lasts much longer than diesel fuel (years), a nuclear submarine does not have to
come to the surface or to a port to refuel and can stay at sea longer.

Nuclear subs and aircraft carriers are powered by nuclear reactors that are
nearly identical to the reactors used in commercial power plants. The reactor
produces heat to generate steam to drive a steam turbine. The turbine in a ship
directly drives the propellers, as well as electrical generators. The two major
differences between commercial reactors and reactors in nuclear ships are:

The reactor in a nuclear ship is smaller.

The reactor in a nuclear ship uses highly enriched fuel to allow it to deliver
a large amount of energy from a smaller reactor.

See How Nuclear Power Works for details on nuclear power and propulsion
systems.

Navigation

Light does not penetrate very far into the ocean, so submarines must navigate
through the water virtually blind. However, submarines are equipped with
navigational charts and sophisticated navigational equipment. When on the
surface, a sophisticated global positioning system (GPS) accurately
determines latitude and longitude, but this system cannot work when the
submarine is submerged. Underwater, the submarine uses inertial guidance
systems (electric, mechanical) that keep track of the ship's motion from a fixed
starting point by using gyroscopes. The inertial guidance systems are accurate to
150 hours of operation and must be realigned by other surface-dependent
navigational systems (GPS, radio, radar, satellite). With these systems onboard,
a submarine can be accurately navigated and be within a hundred feet of its
intended course.

To locate a target, a submarine uses active and


passive SONAR (sound navigation and ranging). Active sonar emits pulses of
sound waves that travel through the water, reflect off the target and return to the
ship. By knowing the speed of sound in water and the time for the sound wave to
travel to the target and back, the computers can quickly calculate distance
between the submarine and the target. Whales, dolphins and bats use the same
technique for locating prey (echolocation). Passive sonar involves listening to
sounds generated by the target. Sonar systems can also be used to realign
inertial navigation systems by identifying known ocean floor features.

Rescue

When a submarine goes down because of a collision with something (such as


another vessel, canyon wall or mine) or an onboard explosion, the crew
will radio a distress call or launch a buoy that will transmit a distress call and the
submarine's location. Depending upon the circumstances of the disaster, the
nuclear reactors will shut down and the submarine may be on battery power
alone.

If this is the case, then the crew of the submarine have four primary dangers
facing them:

Flooding of the submarine must be contained and minimized.

Oxygen use must be minimized so that the available oxygen supply can
hold out long enough for possible rescue attempts.

Carbon dioxide levels will rise and could produce dangerous, toxic effects.

If the batteries run out, then the heating systems will fail and the
temperature of the submarine will fall.

Rescue attempts from the surface must occur quickly, usually within 48 hours of
the accident. Attempts will typically involve trying to get some type of rescue
vehicle down to remove the crew, or to attach some type of device to raise the
submarine from the sea floor. Rescue vehicles include mini-submarines
called Deep-Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRV) and diving bells.

The DSRV can travel independently to the downed submarine, latch onto the
submarine over a hatch (escape trunk), create an airtight seal so that the hatch
can be opened, and load up to 24 crew members. A diving bell is typically
lowered from a support ship down to the submarine, where a similar operation
occurs.

To raise the submarine, typically after the crew has been extracted, pontoons
may be placed around the submarine and inflated to float it to the surface.
Important factors in the success of a rescue operation include the depth of the
downed submarine, the terrain of the sea floor, the currents in the vicinity of the
downed submarine, the angle of the submarine, and the sea and weather
conditions at the surface.
For more information, see the links on the next page.

Lots More Information

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