Air under the Surface – Particulate Concentrations in a Submarine Work Environment

On board a submarine the crew is exposed to the same air environment for a long time.In this thesis typical indoor air quality parameters were analysed in a field measurement on board a submarine in the Swedish Navy.The submarine air quality was evaluated by highly time-resolved measurements of ultrafine particles (UFPs), black carbon (BC), PM 2.5 (mass concentration for particles below 2.5 m in diameter), volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), pressure, temperature, relative humidity and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).The measurements lasted for four days in total and were divided in three measurement periods over an 11 day sailing.Measurements were conducted in the accommodation space of the submarine and in the machinery room.In the analysis of the parameters in the accommodation space, concentrations of PM 2.5 reached 210 g/m 3 during frying in the kitchen of the submarine.High concentrations of VOC were found during use of the oven, the VOC concentration reached a maximum of 2.83 ppm.During surface mode and when the hatches to the atmosphere were open, BC from the diesel exhaust was found infiltrating the submarine indoor air.The mean CO 2 level was 1700 ppm which was over the recommended level of 1000 ppm, but below the allowed of 5000 ppm.The analysis of the machinery room showed elevated mean concentration of PM 2.5 compared to the accommodation space.The average PM 2.5 concentration was 15 g/m 3 in the machinery room whilst 4 g/m 3 in the accommodation space.During starting and stopping of the diesel engines the PM 2.5 peaked in the machinery room.Increases in UFP concentrations could be seen after the stopping of diesel engines.The machinery room had a mean total PAH concentration of 579 ng/m 3 and the accommodation space had correspondingly a concentration of 152 ng/m 3 .Although further assessments are required to assess the worker exposure levels, this study shows that the machinery room can be an area of the submarine where the occupation should be as low as possible when the diesel engines are operating.