Why does nobody talk about the shift from steel to aluminum tanks for deep salvage?

I worked a big wreck job in the Gulf six years ago where we all used heavy steel 120s, but last month on a similar job, every diver had switched to aluminum 80s. The lighter weight cut our surface intervals by almost half, but some guys say the buoyancy swing is a safety risk. Do you think the trade-off is worth it for deep commercial work?

2 comments

2 Comments

xenar1412d ago

Watch a diver chase their tank across the deck because they forgot it was half empty and now it's a balloon. Sure, you save time on the surface, but you spend it all doing math at depth. Seems like a great way to turn a salvage job into a game of underwater ping-pong.

sagesingh12d ago

The real problem is the thermal conductivity. Aluminum pulls heat from you way faster than steel in those cold deep layers. You burn through your gas trying to stay warm, which messes up all your planned run times and deco stops. The weight saving gets eaten by the extra gas you need.