Breakthrough

Breakthrough -  John R. Clarke, Ph.D.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wet Street Press (October 21, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 249 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0986374970
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0986374975
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.02 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.59 x 9 inches

When using a closed circuit rebreather (a type of underwater breathing apparatus or UBA) to descend into the depths, your life is dependent on an opaque cylinder containing a chemical absorbent. That absorbent keeps you alive by scavenging toxic carbon dioxide (CO2) from your circulating breath and producing heat. The absorbent’s efficiency may vary tremendously between dives and even during a dive.

The results of U.S. Navy research and testing are finally being revealed so you can see what has long remained hidden inside the hot, caustic confines of a rebreather scrubber. While the enclosed material is technical, it is largely pictorial. You will learn many things about your underwater life support system that have never been disclosed to the public.
 

John Clarke (aka John R. Clarke) is a Physical Scientist, a Fellow of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine, a PhD. in Physiology, and the 2022 winner of the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences NOGI award for Science. He has been a diving and biomedical research scientist with the U.S. Navy for forty years, conducting research specializing in the adaptations of people and animals to the deep sea.

That research began at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Florida State University, culminating in deep-sea research on the Blake Plateau and the Puerto Rico Trench. As a postgraduate student, he was selected for the U.S. Navy Scientist in the Sea Program. Upon graduation, he was awarded a Research Associateship in Biophysics at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. The following year, the University of Florida School of Medicine provided NIH-funded postgraduate training in human respiratory physiology and pulmonary mechanics.

His Navy research began at the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, and continued at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit in Panama City, FL where he was the Scientific Director for 28 years. He has led projects in both Air Force and Naval Aeromedical Research. His work with the Smithsonian Institution took him to both Polar regions, the Arctic and the Antarctic. He has served on the Antarctic Science Diving Control Board for the National Science Foundation.

Following his Navy retirement, the Pentagon called Clarke back into service to aid in the design and development of a ventilator for the COVID-19 Task Force. The result was the Wilcox Industry’s Patriot SAVR ventilator. He is currently a technical consultant for Clarke Life Support Consulting, LLC.

He and his wife of 52 years live in Panama City, Florida, USA. He flies his Piper Arrow aircraft at every opportunity.

BREAKTHROUGH fills the knowledge gap for mathematical and computer modeling of CO2 elimination in underwater breathing apparatus (UBA). The intended audience is every UBA designer or diver interested in a better understanding of scrubber canisters and metabolic CO2 elimination. It introduces the reader to a new form of stochastic modeling using cellular automata to quantify and visualize the complex thermokinetics of the carbon dioxide absorption reactions that keep divers alive during rebreather diving.

This technical monograph provides insights into the hidden chemical and mechanical machinery of rebreather scrubbers, a primary Underwater Life Support System component. The topic is most relevant to the categories of Life Support Systems, Technical Diving, and Rebreather Diving. It also pertains to the categories of Mathematical Modeling and Computer Modeling.