3 ms·

The soda lime solution is only used for shipboard casualties. The normal service system on a submarine uses a regenerative fluid to scrub the air of CO2. This

The soda lime solution is only used for shipboard casualties. The normal service system on a submarine uses a regenerative fluid to scrub the air of CO2. This fluid smells like cat piss.

ShakataGaNai 3y ago
Interesting. I did more research and there isn't a ton out in the public domain, but it looks to be that the USN and others are using MonoEthanolAmine (MEA) as a regenerative CO2 scrubber. MEA >Weeks et al. (1960) reported that volunteers who smelled MEA vapor described the odor as ammoniacal, musty, or foreign; some volunteers were unable to characterize the odor. > Ethanolamine is a colorless, viscous liquid with an odor reminiscent of ammonia. Ammonia is a lot of what "cat piss" smells of, so that tracks. Thanks! That was really interesting to read about! * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanolamine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanolamine * https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA389253 https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA389253 * https://www.sonistics.com/wp-content/uploads/01-KEY-DEVELOPMENTS-4.pdf https://www.sonistics.com/wp-content/uploads/01-KEY-DEVELOPM... * https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11170/chapter/10#197 https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11170/chapter/10#197