Split counterlungs are used when there are two counterlungs,
one for the inhaled gas and one for the exhaled gas. They are flexible bags
and must have enough volume to contain a full inhalation or exhalation. They
can be mounted on the front, back or over the shoulders of the diver, their
position affects the breathing resistance at various attitudes. A front
mounted counterlungs makes inhalation easier than exhalation in a normally
swimming diver. With a back mounted counterlungs exhalation is easier due to
hydrostatic pressure. The ideal position for a counter lung is when it is
balanced to the centroid, this point is about 19 cm below and 7 cm behind
the sternal-notch in the upright position, in the average person. With twin
shoulder mounted counter lungs there are several advantages. On inhalation
the upstream counter lung collapses and causes gas to move from the
downstream counter lung due to hydrostatic pressure. This helps the gas move
through the CO2 adsorbent making the work of breathing less. Conversely on
exhalation the downstream counter lung inflates, this causes a pressure
differential with the inhale counter lung which draws the gas through the
breathing loop ready for the next inhalation. Slit counterlungs are not
always "over the shoulders". The dolphin has split counterlungs but not over
the shoulder. |