Development of a Hyperbaric Blower

The development of a magnetically coupled gas circulator (blower) used in the environmental control loops of the new Canadian Deep Dive Facility is described. The circulator operates at ambient pressures as high as 172 bars (2500 psi) and offers safe, noncontaminating, low noise circulation of chamber gases through the environmental conditioning loops. The approach undertaken was to couple a two-stage centrifugal blower built within a pressure vessel to an external electric motor via a high energy synchronous self-cooled magnetic drive providing a packless coupling through the pressure vessel wall itself.