Enriched Air Nitrox
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EANxDecal.png
Image:EANxDecal.png
Typical decal used on scuba cylinders containing Nitrox
Nitrox is a breathing gas consisting of oxygen and nitrogen (similar to air), but with a higher proportion of oxygen than the normal 20.9%.
Several other terms for the same exist: Enhanced Air Nitrox, Oxygen Enriched Air, Nitrox, EANx or Safe Air.
Nitrox is mainly used in Scuba diving to reduce the proportion of nitrogen in the breathing gas mixture. Reducing the proportion of nitrogen by breathing increasing the proportion of oxygen reduces the risk of decompression sickness allowing extended dive times without increasing the need for decompression stops. Breathing nitrox can reduce the effects of nitrogen narcosis.
Nitrox with more than 40% oxygen is uncommon within entry-level recreational diving. The two most popular blends are EAN32 and EAN36 (also named Nitrox I and Nitrox II or simply Nitrox32 and Nitrox36).
Nitrox with 50% to 80% oxygen is common in technical diving as a decompression gas, which eliminates inert gases, such as nitrogen and helium, from the tissues more quickly than leaner oxygen mixtures eliminate them.
Nitrox is not a deep-diving gas mixture due the increased proportion of oxygen in Nitrox: oxygen becomes toxic when breathed at high pressure. For example, the maximum operating depth of nitrox with 36% oxygen, a popular mix, is generally around 30 metres / 100 feet.
Diving cylinders are filled with Nitrox by a gas blending technique such as partial pressure blending or premix decanting.
Warning: Diving and handling Nitrox raises a number of potentially fatal dangers due to the high partial pressure of oxygen. Divers who dive deeper than the maximum operating depth risk a seizure due to oxygen toxicity. With the use of pure oxygen during partial pressure blending, there is a risk of fire, which means that only oxygen clean and oxygen compatible cylinders and regulators should be used.
See also
fr:Nitrox nl:Nitrox no:Nitrox pl:Nitrox ru:Нитрокс (Дайвинг) sv:Nitrox