Inventor develops 'artificial gills'

An Israeli inventor has developed an underwater breathing system that literally squeezes oxygen directly from seawater, doing away with the need for compressed air tanks

Called "LikeAFish", the battery-powered artificial gill system aims to extract the small amounts of dissolved air that already exists in water to supply breathable oxygen to scuba divers, submarines and underwater habitats.

The device is the brainchild of Alon Bodner.

It utilises a high-speed centrifuge to lower the pressure of seawater in a small sealed chamber.

This allows the dissolved air to escape back into a gaseous state - much like the way carbon dioxide is liberated from a soft drink when you reduce the pressure on it by popping the bottle cap.

The air thus liberated is then transferred to an airbag for the diver to use.

Since every litre of water contains about 1.5% of dissolved air, Bodner's system must circulate around 200 litres of water per minute to accommodate the breathing needs of an average person.

Instead of being restricted to the amount of air that can be carried in a tank, a diver's air supply would then depend only on the battery power available.

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