Do submarines that are underwater for long periods of time need a means of cleaning their air?

Question

When you think about it, doesn't like a large navy submarine with a couple hundred people on it eventually need a means to remove carbon dioxide from the air? I would think that would be a problem rather quickly - do they have some sort of means of doing this, or is it just not an issue?

Answer 1

Beside the absorbing of the CO2, there are activated charcoal and permanganate chemical "filters" which remove the other undesirable gasses. Respirated moisture is removed by the air conditioning evaporator coil. Sea water is electrolytically broken down into additional Oxygen and the Hydrogen discarded.

Answer 2

Modern submaries use two methods:

1) Carbon Dioxide is removed from the air using scrubbers that filter our and break down Carbon Dioxide.

2) Oxygen is generated from seawater using electrolysis.

Answer 3

Yes, they all have carbon scrubbers that separate the carbon from the CO2. However these are only useful for a certain period of time and the sub still has to surface to at least periscope depth to replace the air inside every now and again

Answer 4

Yes, they scrub out the CO2, filter the air & replace the
oxygen ....They can stay underwater for months at a time...
Usually food is the limiting factor...

Answer 5

yes they have to remove the carbom dioxide and replace it with oxygen.
normaly plants do this but thees not enough room on a sub for a bunch of plants, so they use machines.

Answer 6

Modern subs derive drinking water & breathable air from ocean water. As long as they have power, (and food), they can stay submerged indefinitely.

Answer 7

1st serve no beans, of course the air needs to be scrubbed.