Machinery
Modern diving compressors are three- or four-stage-reciprocating air compressors that are lubricated with high-grade compressor oil (a few use ceramic-lined cylinders with O-rings, not piston rings, requiring no lubrication). Oil-lubricated compressor operators must only use lubricants specified by the compressor's manufacturer. Special filters are used to clean the air of any residual oil (see "Air purity").
The compression process helps remove water from the gas, making it dry, which is good for reducing rust in diving cylinders and freezing of diving regulators, but causes dehydration, a factor in decompression sickness, in divers who breathe the gas.
Read more about this topic: Diving Air Compressor
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