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Decennial Maintenance of Hyperbaric Facilities (R120)

Decennial Maintenance of Hyperbaric Facilities (R120)

Apr 11, 2023

COMEX specializes in the design and implementation of maintenance plans for hyperbaric facilities in compliance with the European Pressure Equipment Directive (DESP). Customized based on the specific needs and conditions of each client, our goal is to provide management and maintenance services tailored to each context. Our aim is to ensure the best value for money, reliability, constant availability, and the safety of our devices while also preserving environmental protection.

The European Pressure Equipment Directive (DESP) sets the requirements for pressure equipment to ensure their circulation within the European Economic Area.

Operational Maintenance of Hyperbaric Chambers (MCO)

Since 2009, COMEX has been responsible for the operational maintenance of hyperbaric chambers for the French Navy. This includes approximately 32 chambers distributed across naval bases in France. After the requalification of the CHM500 at the Toulon naval base, which took place from September 2020 to July 2021, it was the turn of all the “CML*” type chambers installed on various Navy vessels, also known as “units.” There are 25 of these chambers. These requalifications, governed by the latest applicable decree (Decree of November 20, 2017), allow our teams to work on all chambers equipping the vessels to perform a complete installation check-up, all with the aim of ensuring another 10 years of operation..

*CML: Lightweight Multiplace Chamber

Procedure of an R120

    • Establishing an assessment of the chamber upon arrival at the COMEX workshop, documented in the reception report
    • Conducting rapid functionality tests to verify the initial supply of the chamber
    • Performing a complete disassembly of the chamber
    • Conducting an inspection of the chamber by SGS
    • Performing a hydraulic test at 1.5 times the working pressure using a booster, always under the supervision of SGS (a new valve is installed)
    • Drying the chamber
    • Reassembling all elements of the chamber
    • Conducting pressure tests on the chamber. Pressure tests are typically finalized with a dive conducted by a French Navy diver and a COMEX operator*
    • Drafting the maintenance report

Particularity of an R120 requalification

In the case of R120 conducted at the COMEX workshop, our diving teams are made available to perform the dive at 10m.

The particularity of an R120 requalification is that it includes a hydraulic test at 1.5 times the working pressure (Ps). In this case, with a working pressure of 5.2 bars, the test is conducted at a pressure of 7.8 bars.

An R120 immobilizes the chamber for approximately 3 weeks and also provides an opportunity to make modifications and improvements that have been identified during their use over the previous ten years.

For each improvement proposal, COMEX prepares a study file that needs to be validated by the French Navy, after which the service is commissioned by them.

Through many types of services, COMEX has been supporting the Defense sector and international armed forces for over 50 years.

We are committed to providing high-quality services in compliance with the strictest standards of safety and reliability, all with great responsiveness. Our partnership with the French Navy is based on mutual trust and close collaboration, which has lasted for nearly 15 years.

Moon surface simulator

Moon surface simulator

Jan 4, 2023

Moon surface simulator

Prepare human and robotic exploration on the moon

The decade in which we live will see the return of man to the Moon accompanied by robotic systems.

The COMEX hydrosphere is a unique installation in Europe. A vacuum chamber of five meters in diameter containing 3.5 tons of regolith simulant, which is used to carry out preparation tests for future missions on the lunar soil.
The facility, referenced by ESA (European Space Agency), allows the development of specific test capabilities to simulate spacewalks.

One of the main constraints of operations on the lunar ground is the dust found there, the regolith. The abrasive nature of regolith causes damage, mechanical failure, material wear, etc.
Currently, there are few facilities in the world where the effects of lunar dust can be tested in a vacuum environment. COMEX has the only facility in Europe where such tests can be performed.

Currently, there are few facilities in the world where the effects of lunar dust can be tested in a vacuum environment. COMEX has the only facility in Europe where such tests can be performed.

Simulate surface operations with a lunar ground (simulating) in the vacuum

In the world, there are several chambers or ground models that can be used for equipment testing, either in vacuum conditions recreating a lunar atmosphere, or on a ground simulating the lunar soil. But very few means simulate both at the same time.

The HYDROSPHERE lunar surface simulator proposed by COMEX is therefore an additional asset for the development of space activities at the European level. The possibility of simulating lunar surface operations under vacuum in a chamber 5 meters in diameter offers a very wide field of exploration.

The installation is composed of three vacuum tightly sealed chambers and a control center.

The 5 m diameter sphere is the main element of the facility, allowing to reproduce the lunar surface with its 3.5 tons of regolith (simulant).

In terms of geochemistry, various regolith simulants can be available ranging from high-fidelity, for example for sampling, sample analysis, and ISRU testing, to low-fidelity simulants and rocks that can be used to test the mobility and situational awareness of a rover. COMEX is currently in possession of EAC-1 simulant provided by ESA-EAC filling the HYDROSPHERE ground. 

Adjacent to the sphere, for all intra-vehicular activities (life in confinement, telemedicine), is a second enclosure used as an airlock and a third enclosure, the habitat, a chamber that provides space for a crew of up to eight subjects. The habitat has a volume that is close to the COLUMBUS laboratory of the ISS. .

The main sphere can be serviced by a crane and can receive large elements of 2m diameter from its top.

Human mission simulations

Surface simulations, manned flights, habitats and life support systems

The Hydrosphere installation can be used for various simulations

  • Future human and robotic missions on the lunar surface or Mars.
  • Understanding of the human factors of spaceflight
  • Simulations of habitat operations and life support systems

The similarity of the hydrosphere habitat volume to the internal volume of the ISS COLUMBUS has been instrumental in the ESA BIOMODEXO project, where mathematical models of bio-contamination have been validated inside the habitat and could also be used to develop methods against dust introduction for future expeditions to the Moon or Mars.

The adjacent control center is used to monitor activity inside the facility. It also allows to:

    • To simulate a mission control, as a center in communication with the crew with the addition of a delay in the links
    • Evaluate the human-robot interactions that are simulated, for example between the habitat and the main sphere or directly between an astronaut and the robot both in the sphere containing the regolith.

In addition to the lunar environment, the simulator can also be used for other planetary applications such as the technological demonstration of the Mars sample recovery rover, drones (flight systems in a low density atmosphere) or any other similar application identified in the context of extraterrestrial exploration missions.

Another advantage is that the configuration of the sphere allows the testing of EVA suits and equipment, textiles and materials, and their resistance to the environment: wear and tear and mechanical failure tests.

Robotic mission simulations

Future missions to the Moon will most likely see the advent of cooperation between astronauts and explorers or robotic helpers. The strength of the COMEX Hydrosphere installation is that it simply offers the possibility to simulate different mission scenarios with such robots

  • The robot in the sphere and a crew controlling it from the supervision center
  • Man and robot in the sphere, in cooperation
  • A drone flight in a controlled atmosphere

The expertise in controlled pressure acquired by COMEX for more than 60 years and the infrastructures present on its site make it a unique test and trial center in Europe, whether for underwater, terrestrial or extraterrestrial applications. This is why COMEX has been involved in the development of space projects since the 1980s in collaboration with ESA and CNES and why its facilities are listed with these agencies.

COMEX supports ESA astronaut training

COMEX supports ESA astronaut training

Dec 15, 2022

COMEX supports ESA astronaut training

As ESA recently selected a new class of astronauts, we take the opportunity to present our activity as a service provider supporting ESA for a specific Astronaut Training activity. Since 2019, COMEX is working with ESA to implement underwater training and test activities in the Neutral Buoyancy Facility (NBF) at the European Astronaut Center (EAC) in Cologne (Germany).

selection des astronautes europeens 2022
Class of 2022 – Credits : ESA

ESA’s latest Astronaut recruitment campaign ended on November 23, 2022. Out of 22,523 applicants, ESA selected 17 new Astronaut Candidates to whom we send our sincere congratulations. Among those, two French Astronauts were selected, Sophie Adenot as a career astronaut and Arnaud Prost, a former COMEX project engineer and diver, as a reserve Astronaut. Starting next year, five career astronauts of this new ESA Astronaut Class will receive the ESA Basic Training organized at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. This is the first training phase for all Astronaut Candidates after their selection, introducing them to different fundamental knowledge and skills for spaceflight. The COMEX diving Team in Cologne will support ESA to implement the spacewalk skill training part of this Basic Training in the Neutral Buoyancy Facility (NBF) at EAC.

The Neutral Buoyancy Facility (NBF) at the European Astronaut Center

centre d'entrainement europeen NBF

NBF with diving tank: 10m deep, 22m length and 17m width (credits: COMEX)

The NBF is a unique European Training Facility housing a 10m deep diving tank, training mock-ups, that represent parts of the International Space Station (ISS), and a Control Room from which Underwater Activities can be monitored and guided.

The contract concerning the NBF support between ESA and COMEX was first signed in spring 2019. Since then, COMEX has supported ESA for all NBF activities with a team of local safety divers supervised by our project Manager, Kathrin Nowak. Under the coordination of Hervé Stevenin, the ESA Astronaut Trainer for Extravehicular Activities (EVA), the Diving Team provides technical support and ensures the safety during the implementation of Underwater training and test activities.

EVA : The main Training Activities at NBF

The NBF core activity is the EVA Pre-Familiarization and Proficiency Training for ESA Astronauts for Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA a.k.a. “spacewalks”). The European astronauts are trained by ESA on the rules of engagement of EVAs, through underwater simulations of typical ISS spacewalk tasks performed inside the NBF in neutral buoyancy simulating weightlessness.

These activities prepare them for training in spacesuits at NASA in Houston. ESA’s newly recruited career Astronauts will go through the NBF EVA Pre-familiarization Training as part of their Basic Training starting in April 2023. This Training will be provided by the ESA Trainer Hervé Stevenin, who received several NASA EVA Trainings in Houston himself.

Hervé Stevenin en formation EVA

Herve Stevenin in EVA Training by NASA at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) in Houston (Credits: NASA/ESA)
.

entrainement astronautes en NBF ESA
ESA Astronaut in NBF EVA configuration during Training (credits: H. Rueb)

To prepare the Astronaut Candidates for their first EVA training sessions underwater, they will have to go through several training sessions to prepare them to dive in the unique NBF EVA configuration. As ESA has not developed a European space suit, astronauts in the NBF train in a custom-made gear allowing them to speak with the Astronaut Trainer in the Control Room (via a communication line and a Full Face Mask) and to carry and operate the NASA EVA standard Tools with EVA gloves like they will later do it during their EVA suited runs at NASA.

After several breaks in the NBF ctivities due to refurbishment activities in the last couple of years the NBF diving Team is now busy in preparing the upcoming Basic Training in 2023. This includes the testing of all relevant training hardware and equipment, implementing proficiency training of the team, performing rescue drills and completing the rehearsal of all diving training lessons the Astronauts will receive.

NBF Divers  (crédits : B. Schulze)

Kathrin NOWAK, our project manager in charge of diving operations

Kathrin is a COMEX project manager in Cologne, Germany. She has been working in the Neutral Buoyancy Facility (NBF) for over 12 years. After gaining experience as a freelance diver she joined the safety diver team of the European Astronaut Center in 2009. In 2010 she supported the Basic Training of the ESA Astronaut Class 2009 in the NBF and several following Astronaut Training and ESA test. campaigns. Since 2018 she works for COMEX and manages the diving team supporting ESA in the preparation and implementation of all diving operations in the NBF.

Beyond this project, Comex has also been a partner of ESA and CNES for many years on various topics for the space sector. Our team works, among other things, on R&D projects such as the VCARE device, or projects around future space habitats and life support system such as air/water filtration equipment in space. These projects, carried out at the Marseille site, are based on COMEX infrastructures, unique in Europe, providing for example the possibility of simulating lunar surface operations under vacuum.

New generation of recompression chambers for the French Navy

New generation of recompression chambers for the French Navy

Dec 1, 2022

New generation of recompression chambers for the French Navy

Photo l’Ophrys : ©Jean-Claude BELLONNE

As part of a contract with the Merré shipyard, COMEX was tasked with studying, manufacturing, integrating, and validating hyperbaric chambers for the Diving Support Vessels (VSP) delivered to the French Navy. This collaboration involves eight CX1800 recompression chambers and is part of a larger program led by the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), which aims to modernize France’s underwater mine clearance capabilities. It also highlights COMEX’s ability to meet the requirements of both the armed forces and the professional diving sector.

hese vessels will be used by the Saint-Mandrier Diving School as well as by the mine clearance diving teams stationed in Toulon, Brest, and Cherbourg. COMEX ensured the complete integration of the hyperbaric chamber and the associated gas networks, from its workshops to the final operational site.

Recompression chambers designed for military standards.:



The recompression chambers offered by COMEX are designed to provide rapid and secure care for divers in the event of a decompression accident. They enable the administration of hyperbaric treatments in accordance with current protocols and in compliance with international standards.

Their compact structure and ergonomic design facilitate integration aboard ships or within terrestrial infrastructures. They are also adapted for intensive use in operational environments.

An interior design optimized for medical efficiency


The CX 1800 hyperbaric chamber stands out with an interior layout specifically designed to meet the most stringent requirements of emergency interventions. At the core of this system, the modular stretcher exemplifies the ingenuity of the design: it allows for optimal patient positioning using robust and precise guide rails.

Three main positions – central, lateral, and intubation – are easily accessible and secured by a locking system. This flexibility provides healthcare professionals with full access to the patient while ensuring stability during treatment.

This system also facilitates a smooth transition of the stretcher between the inside and outside of the chamber, enabling efficient transfers in critical situations.


Thoughtfully designed down to the smallest details, the interior layout also integrates optimal placement of monitoring and ventilation equipment, freeing up space around the patient and making it easier for medical staff to work.

The new French Navy launches incorporating a COMEX recompression chamber are part of the Navy’s hyperbaric installations for which COMEX is responsible as part of the maintenance of operational condition (MCO) contract.

The new generation of COMEX hyperbaric chambers consists of a chamber and a lock and includes:

A control station located at the entrance of the hyperbaric chamber, consolidating the necessary equipment for its operation and use, following three modes of operation:

Automatic: Allows the automatic execution of treatment tables from a user-configured library.
Semi-automatic Features linear electric controls, providing flexibility and precision.
Manual: Equipped with high-precision regulation valves.

  • A high-definition video surveillance system for the chamber with transmission to the control panel,

  • A new communication system developed by COMEX, meeting the specific requirements of hyperbaric chambers,

  • A backup power supply system ensuring more than 6 hours of autonomy for chamber use,

  • A complete hyperbaric fire suppression system with spray nozzles, compliant with hospital requirements,

  • A set of equipment for monitoring ambient parameters, along with an emergency system for absorbing exhaled CO2,

  • In the chamber: Three seats on folding chairs and one place for a patient lying on a multi-position stretcher,

  • Fluid distribution stations with on-demand regulators and exhaust for exhaled gases,

  • A hyperbaric ventilator,

  • A monitoring/defibrillator set equipped for telemedicine with real-time transmission of medical data.

Modularity and container integration




Designed for simplified logistics, the recompression chambers can be integrated into containers specially designed for transport and rapid deployment. This modular configuration allows for flexible installation in remote areas or on temporary operational sites, providing essential responsiveness in emergency situations.

caisson hyperbare projetable en conteneur

A range suited to all needs


In addition to the large-capacity CX1800 models, COMEX also offers smaller-sized recompression chambers, designed for structures requiring a more compact solution. These models maintain the same safety and performance standards while providing increased flexibility for various applications.


Professional and military applications


Recompression chambers are key elements in the treatment of decompression accidents and the implementation of post-dive safety protocols. In the military context, they play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of divers and mine clearance teams.

For civilian professionals in the diving industry (such as underwater construction, inspection, and offshore maintenance), these chambers provide a tailored solution to meet the safety and performance requirements expected on the most complex job sites.

Conclusion

With a range of modular and high-performance recompression chambers, COMEX reinforces its role as a leader in the design of custom hyperbaric solutions. Built to last and designed for action, these devices align with a modern and demanding operational vision, meeting the specific needs of both military and professional sectors.

Regulatory and medical references

To further explore the regulatory and medical aspects related to the use of recompression chambers, you can consult the following resources:

• Arrêté du 29 mai 2024 relatif aux interventions hyperbares sans immersion
• La prévention des risques lors des activités en milieu hyperbare – Ministère du Travail

For more information on our hyperbaric solutions, visit our product page for the Deployable Hyperbaric Chamber.

Source: DGA Press Release, 14/11/22
Photos of the hyperbaric chamber: ©COMEX

Rolex and Comex push further the limits of presssure together

Rolex and Comex push further the limits of presssure together

Nov 21, 2022

Rolex and Comex push further the limits of presssure together

Comex’s technical teams have been working with Rolex for many years. They design and maintain special automated pressure testing machines. These machines are used to validate the waterproofness and resistance of the famous Rolex watches.

Crédits: ©COMEX

With more than 50 years of collaboration since 1971, the Comex team accompanies the famous watchmaker Rolex towards a technicality that seems limitless. In order to meet these challenges, and in accordance with very demanding specifications, we pool our skills by intervening in the design of special machines, by ensuring the maintenance of equipment integrated into the overall control line, while relying on our strong experience in controlled pressure environments.

For the launch of the new Deepsea Challenge watch, in partnership with Comex, Rolex has developed an ultra-high pressure tank to test the resistance of its watches.

The Deepsea Challenge is an adaptation of the experimental watch developed for James Cameron’s 10,908-metre (35,787 feet) descent on 26 March 2012. It is the fruit of Rolex’s extensive expertise and know-how in the world of divers’ watches. Made of RLX titanium and equipped with the helium escape valve and the Ringlock system, it is capable of accompanying divers in any environment – during freedives, submersible dives or in hyperbaric chambers.

Crédits ©Rolex Fred Merz

Rolex’s patented Ringlock system equips all of the brand’s divers’ watches designed for extreme depths.
An extension of the research dedicated to the waterproofness of the Oyster, this system is a reinforced case architecture comprising a thick, slightly domed sapphire crystal, a nitrogen-alloyed steel compression ring, and a case back made from RLX titanium. This construction allows the Deepsea Challenge to withstand the pressure exerted by water at 11,000 metres (36,090 feet), the depth to which it is guaranteed waterproof. In partnership with Comex (Compagnie Maritime d’Expertises), Rolex developed an ultra-high-pressure tank to test the waterproofness of the Deepsea Challenge. Each watch is tested, as required by the standards for divers’ watches, with an additional safety margin of 25 per cent, meaning that it is subjected to a pressure equivalent to that exerted at a depth of 13,750 metres (45,112 feet).

V-Care project

V-Care project

Oct 3, 2022

Since man has been exploring space, one of the greatest challenges has been to be able to stay there for a long period of time (6 months). It is known that with time, the absence of gravity causes a premature aging of the bones as well as a muscular atrophy in the astronaut. It is therefore essential to regularly practice optimized resistive physical exercises to counteract muscle and bone loss during space flights.

 

VCARE (ESA contract 4000127147/19/NL/KML)

Objectives

  • Detection of an individual’s joint centers to estimate joint angle oscillations during physical exercises
  • Optimization of muscular fatigue with an adapted program to strengthen the muscles
  • Improvement of space travel conditions and optimization of the payload at the start of the space trip

One of the objectives of the researchers is to control the posture of the astronaut during resistive exercise sessions to optimize the efficiency while reducing the risk of injury following misuse, in particular for body movements requiring high loads as it is the case with the ARED device (for “Advanced Resistive Exercise Device”) on board the International Space Station ISS. To do this, one solution is to use a tool that allows real-time tracking of movements in order to correct them in real time, as all sports coaches do.

Within the framework of a technological demonstrator, ESA asks for an evaluation of the performances of a system developed by COMEX with the support in space medicine brought by the MEDES.

Context

COMEX has developed a motion analysis system called V-Care allowing the tracking of 3D motion, the advantage of which is that it is markerless body-tracking. The system uses two cameras that are compact and easy to install.

The purpose of the study presented here was to evaluate the accuracy of this system from selected joint angles. The data obtained with V-Care was compared to a Gold Standard system in the field.

The two systems were compared during three resistive physical exercises representative of a functional evaluation at the Technosport of Aix-Marseille University.

Results

This study aimed to compare the performance of a markerless motion capture system, V-Care, to the gold standard in the field.

The V-Care system performs better in tracking the two main joints of the lower limbs. For the upper limbs, the error is more important.

In spite of this lower precision on the upper limbs, the V-Care system seems to be adapted for the real follow-up of physical exercises in the framework of space flights. Its “Plug & Play” aspect allows an easy and fast use compared to the preparation time of the standard Gold system in the field. The latter can be of the order of a day for the initial installation of a dozen cameras, plus half an hour for the installation of the markers.

Perspectives

To conclude this study, the V-Care appears to be a simple to use and sufficiently accurate tool for tracking movement during functional tasks.

The next step is to integrate the V-Care system in a resistive exercise device simulating the ARED.

Altitude simulator

Altitude simulator

Jun 29, 2022

As expert in hyperbaric simulation and operations, COMEX created its altitude simulator in 2016. This test facility recreates pressure conditions at altitude. This altitude chamber is now a reference tool for the aeronautics and space industry, to meet their needs for validation and certification of new equipment.

Meeting the needs of the aerospace industry

The altitude simulator, developed and transformed over the past 10 years by COMEX within its hypobaric test center, meets the growing need for testing methods to simulate altitude conditions for human subjects. This 20m² hypoxic chamber cabin can accommodate several people (subjects, medical staff, technical staff) at the same time and simulate flights up to 40,000 feet (~12,000m) in altitude. These aeronautical altitude tests are always conducted under medical supervision.

Medical support

To this end, COMEX has joined forces with Phymarex: a group of doctors, nurses and researchers who are experts in underwater, aeronautical and space medicine. These specialists have been using hyperbaric and hypobaric chambers to treat various pathologies since the 1970s. During the 2000’s, they started a collaboration with occupational physicians in the aeronautical sector, in order to assist them in the realization of studies on the flight personnel. Gradually these studies were carried out in the COMEX  altitude simulator. Further, in 2016, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) granted COMEX approval to carry out tests, under medical supervision on healthy subjects. This approval has led to a wide variety of tests being carried out. Research and development on medical equipment, onboard equipment such as oxygen masks and smoke protection hoods. But also physiological experiments for adaptation to very high altitude environments

Hypoxic training

Or finally, as explained by Dr Mathieu Coulange (Head of the hyperbaric center of the APHM) for the sensibilization to the hypoxic risks for flight personnel.

« Or finally, as explained by Dr Mathieu Coulange (Head of the hyperbaric center of the APHM) for the sensibilization to the hypoxic risks for flight personnel. “We install them on a flight simulator and we reproduce the cabin environment. After having them breathe air at the beginning of the session, without warning them, we will switch them to a 12% under-oxygenated mixture, they will feel symptoms due to hypoxia, which they will have to announce, to be able to prepare them to detect the lack of oxygen which could happen when there is a cabin depressurization or when the oxygen masks malfunction.»

To date, more than 150 people have participated in these simulated flights, without a single medical accident.

Throughout its history, COMEX has demonstrated its ability to push back the limits of professional diving thanks to two axes: innovations in equipment and a better understanding of the physiological effects of high pressure.
It is now continuing this work by focusing on altitude and very high altitude.

Hyperbaric assistance service for tunnel boring machines

Hyperbaric assistance service for tunnel boring machines

Mar 23, 2022

 Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are machines used to excavate tunnels in different types of soil ranging from sand to granite. With a wide range of sizes, they allow the construction of road, rail or navigation tunnels. They are also used for digging galleries, sewers and sewage collectors. Tunnel boring machines carry out several operations: digging, extracting soil and laying tunnel lining segment.

Tunneling machine with controlled pressure

When drilling in soft ground or under groundwater, it is necessary to maintain a controlled pressure at the cutting head in order to guarantee the stability of the ground. This also allows for maintenance work on the harvesting head, such as changing the cutting tools. A hyperbaric lock is then installed on the harvesting head to maintain the desired pressure according to the terrain. The pressure in the excavation chamber can be adapted to the diversity of the terrain and the hydrogeological conditions.

Hyperbaric assistance service for tunnel boring machines

With more than 60 years of expertise in the field of controlled pressures, Comex offers a hyperbaric assistance service to tunnel boring machines. As an example, we have been working for a year on a power line undergrounding project in the Paris suburbs. We rent a mobile hyperbaric chamber to the company Spie batignolles.
A second hyperbaric chamber is also mobilized punctually for other operators.

Our service includes :

    • hyperbaric-chamber-rental
    • Expertise of the installations under pressure
    • Leakage control
    • Intervention at the level of pressure locks
    • Calibration of pressure gauges
    • On-site training

Comex also offers à containerized transportable mobile hyperbaric system.
The containerized structure offers the advantage of moving the equipment by land (by truck) as well as by sea or air.
Manually or electronically operated is an autonomous equipment featuring its own air production and storage system as well as its therapeutic gases storage and network

The diving rules are governed by the hyperbaric prevention manual, Mention D.
This mention allows the intervention of tubists (hyperbarists) to carry out maintenance work on the cutting head.

This activity in controlled pressure completes the range of services already offered by Comex in hyperbaric area :

I would like to thank all our “Tunnellers” clients that we met on different sites. Our exchanges have been very enriching both on the human level and on the methods of hyperbaric interventions. We are very happy to support these leading actors and to put at their disposal 60 years of experience in the safety of hyperbaric workers. Congrats to all the divers mention D, and to all the other actors who allow us to go underground…

Olivier TESSIER

Project Manager, Comex SAS

intervention technicien comex sur chantier tunnelier
vue d un chantier tunnelier
Maintenance in operational condition of hyperbaric installations

Maintenance in operational condition of hyperbaric installations

Dec 9, 2021

The Maintenance in Operational Condition (MCO) are the measures taken to guarantee breakdowns’ diagnosis and defective parts’ replacement, ensure conformity, modernization and treatment of the obsolescences, as well as crew training and documentation supply, within the framework of a continuous production.

Aim of a maintenance in operational condition

In industrial, medical, systems and controlled pressure solutions (hyperbaric, hypobaric) environments, Operational Condition Maintenance consists of ensuring the functioning and performance of equipment during the entire operating phase. This includes all the resources required to keep equipment in a state of readiness to meet the demands made on it, while ensuring maintenance, replacement of parts, compliance and compliance with the regulatory inspections required by ministerial decrees. Products and systems have a limited lifespan. Their use subjects them to breakdowns, replacement of parts, aging obsolescence, wear and tear and new constraints: technological advances, regulatory standards, preventive renewal of consumables.

Comex has just successfully completed the regulatory requalification as well as a series of modernization of the 500-meter diving simulator “CHM500” composed of 4 hyperbaric systems located in Toulon naval base.

To talk about it, we have chosen to interview our project manager.

Emmanuelle Dubois, project manager at COMEX SA gives us an insight of this demanding project :

Hello Emmanuelle, can you introduce yourself?

Emmanuelle Dubois, project manager at Comex SA in charge of the MCO of hyperbaric chambers for the French Navy.

An important step for this contract renewal has just been completed, can you tell us more?

Yes indeed, with the end of the CHM500’s requalification, we’ve completed an important step in the 5-years contract with the French Navy. This is the R120, the mandatory 120 months (10 years) regulatory requalification every 120 months (10 years). During this requalification, the 3 dry and the 1 wet enclosures are dismantled in order to check, test and clean each component. Each component which is dismantled, cleaned and tested. This requalification is validated by the realization of a hydraulic test for each enclosure at a pressure equal to 1.5 times the service pressure (i.e. 75bars). Following these tests, the center is requalified by a certifying body, then by the French Navy itself, and this, for 10 years.

The opportunity to expose the center also allows us to carry out improvement requests formulated upstream by the customer, to which we have offered solutions that have been accepted.

With regard to these improvements that have been made, can you tell us a little more about them?

Without going into details, we can however talk about :

    • Creation of a mobile analysis bay located next to the supervision desk, allowing a simultaneous report of the oxygen and CO2 concentration in each enclosure.
    • Modernization of an existing high pressure air distribution panel
    • Modernization of the communication networks in the dry chambers under pressure (50 Bars) and outside at atmospheric pressure
    • Addition of a hydrophone and laryngophone for divers in the wet chamber (called wet tank) and the Turret (chamber allowing the transition between the dry chambers known as “life” and the Wet tank)
    • Renovation of the interior paintings of the wet tank and the turret in adequation with the environment.
      Problems are diverse, 2 can be cited:
          • Issues related to the presence of a gaseous sky composed of Helium, which, with the speeds of compression and decompression, creates fine particles which, by bubbling effect take off the paint on the walls,
          • Problems related to the VOCs released by the paint in the hyperbaric and gaseous environment.

What is the “plus” provided by Comex in this type of service?

Despite the client’s hight level of specifications from the customer, Comex, with its 60 years long of experience in the hyperbarics field, is always able to come up with solutions. Thanks to the increased knowledge of the system, COMEX knows how to adapt and reinvent itself. This allows us to respond quickly and adapt to improvement issues in terms of safety as well as obsolescence treatment and staff comfort.

What happens next in this contract? This contract runs for another 3.5 years and concerns the maintenance in operational condition of 32 chambers (chambers on board ships, onshore chambers, experimental chambers and diving school‘s chambers for diving schools). In addition to the visits to be carried out within the regulatory framework, preventive maintenance, replacement of consumables, curative maintenance (treatment of damage) and continuous improvement (obsolescence and proposals for improvement) are and will continue to be carried out.

What do you personally remember?

Due to the health situation during which this requalification took place, the initial deadlines were extended and this stage only took almost a year! However, the result is positive. The requalification was completed and the new equipment was put into service. Even if the latter required some readjustments (apprehension of the new technologies), we were able to concretize these projects.

On a more personal note, having been at Comex for only 2 years with a period of confinement in the middle, I remember the team spirit at Comex, a solidarity and involvement that I have never felt elsewhere. Over and above the service that has to be provided, everyone is committed in to making sure that “it works” and to being there, present at every stage to support, repair, train or even alert us if necessary. I am certainly responsible for this project, but it is feasible and achievable thanks to the involvement of all the actors in the COMEX company.

Did you encounter any difficulties in integrating into your new professional environment?

For my part, I had no problems integrating. I was very well received, whether with my counterparts on the client side or in the field (ships, test center, etc.). The French Navy advocates, applies and conveys the so-called “basic” values, of which respect is one.

There are very few women in engineering, what do you think can be done to correct this?

The technical engineering professions remain little known or little valued for women. However, women do very well and are often well integrated into the workforce. The promotion of these professions through fairs and forums must continue to exist. I think that testimonies with a female presence to represent these professions, starting in the final year of high school, should be made to allow our future generations to visualize the extent of the possibilities and why not create new vocations and break the old clichés that are still a little too present. I would like to point out that more and more women are entering this type of profession.

Thank you Emmanuelle!

A long-lasting and fruitful partnership has united COMEX and the French Navy since 2009.

Our team is in charge of the maintenance in operational conditions of about thirty hyperbaric installations on its naval bases or on board its ships and vessels.

The new contract, notified by the fleet support service, started in March 2020 and will end in March 2025. COMEX is therefore involved in all the caissons fitted to the French Navy’s ships, particularly at the Brest, Cherbourg, Toulon, Saint Mandrier and Roscanvel naval bases. The whole team is happy to finish successfully the requalification of the CHM500 diving simulator!

Supply of a Cx1800 Projectable Decompression Chamber to the Armada Argentina (Argentine Navy)

Supply of a Cx1800 Projectable Decompression Chamber to the Armada Argentina (Argentine Navy)

Jun 7, 2021

OPV – Offshore Patrol Vessel

 

COMEX has produced a containerized decompression chamber to the Armada Argentina. It is intended to equip an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) that will be delivered by the French Company NAVAL GROUP

 

The selected hyperbaric chamber is a new generation model. Its design benefits from a unique experience, acquired both in the underwater industrial sector and in the Medical environment (Hospital and University).

For this new generation, the data crossing of the needs expressed both by the end-users and by the operators has allowed us to meet their expectations, to anticipate their demand and to propose a product perfectly adapted to their very needs.

This projectable containerized unit is a complete set ready for use. It bears the CE marking for pressure equipment (European Directive) 2014/68/EU.

 

KERSHIP 

KERSHIP is a joint venture company created in 2013 by PIRIOU and NAVAL GROUP, two experts in engineering and shipbuilding as well as in military systems and services.
This alliance is based on the complementarity of their experience and know-how:
– PIRIOU, 50 years of experience in civilian shipbuilding.
– NAVAL GROUP (formerly DCNS), a world leader in naval defence.
KERSHIP offers ships up to 95 meters long to fulfil all the needs of a State at sea : Navy, Coastguards, Customs, Safety at sea, Scientific Agencies…
Thanks to the expertise of its holding companies, KERSHIP accompanies the administrations and Navy forces throughout the life of their ships, from manufacturing to delivery, but also from after-sales services to maintenance in operational conditions (MCO).

 

COMEX.SA 

A global pioneer in the development of technologies for human and robotic intervention in extreme environments.
COMEX, through its in-house Engineering Team, has been designing, manufacturing and marketing hyperbaric oxygen therapy facilities since 1974. More than 200 facilities have been installed for public or private customers in France and around the world. The Services department is responsible for the maintenance, the periodical control and the modernization of the facilities.

CX1800 hyperbaric chamber

Product of the Cx2 «new generation» range

which integrates the latest technologies in pilotage. The hyperbaric system includes:
    • A decompression chamber, a control system, a compressed air production, storage and distribution Unit, a therapeutic fluids distribution Unit, all enclosed inside a 20 foot equipped cell.
    • The decompression chamber consists in the main chamber which accommodates up to 2 sitting patients and 1 supine patient, and the air entrance lock for 1 seating attendant.
    • Stainless steel fittings and storage with a modern and long-lasting design with surfaces designed for quick and easy daily decontamination,
    • LED based ambient lighting systems,
    • Anti-slip decontaminable, surgery room type floor covering
    • Reliability of industrial quality equipment,
    • The performance and the possibility of evolution of the control system using an industrial architecture with a programmable industrial automat and a supervision system,
    • The ergonomics and ease of use of the HMI with automatic management of healing decompression profiles, recording and real-time display of all parameters, with management of all failsafe systems,
    • Support and assistance in physiology/hyperbaric medicine,
    • The pressure hull is equipped with sound attenuation compression, ventilation and decompression feedthroughs and valves,
    • Large windows in DN 200mm ensure a perfect vision of the interior of the compartments and contribute to the general brightness,
    • In the lower part of the chamber, a technical hatch serves as an interface for the circuits of all medical devices (scope, hyperbaric respirator, syringe pusher, etc.),
    • The chamber is mounted on a support frame evenly distributing the load,
    • The control equipment is centralised on a console panel mounted directly on the chamber wall,
    • This control panel also includes a programmable automat that ensures the display and the traceability of the control parameters. It also increase the safety of the installation by means of the control of all the instrumented data,
    • The «mini-automat» architecture with touch screen meets the requirements of durability and operational safety,
    • The control system includes an industrial programmable automat and a touch screen of at least 10’’ and a supervision system that manages functionalities.

Organization of the project

In its capacity as Project Manager, Comex ensures the relations with the Project Owner and the management of the project as well as the coordination of actions with its subcontractors. The project will be led by a team that will bring its expertise and experience in hyperbaric systems and facilities, both from a technical and a physiological point of view.

The men, their skills, their missions

The project will be led by the following multidisciplinary team:
• A Project Manager:
Its role is to ensure the conduct of the project in compliance with administrative, financial and timely objectives. He participates directly in the technical documentation and in the choice of the design. He coordinates the different activities required to carry out the project according to the stage of progress by identifying possible hard points and their impact on the objectives of the project.
• A Quality Assurance Manager (QAR):
He is in charge of monitoring the quality of the project. It adapts and/or establishes the quality assurance procedures specific to this project and ensures internal audits.
• The Engineering team:
Based at Comex facilities, It is responsible for the studies and the preparation of the documents necessary for the implementation of the project. It works at preparing workshop logistics and ensures the supply and follow-through of the necessary materials for the project.

Training in the use of the hyperbaric chamber

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A new 5-year contract signed with the French Navy

A new 5-year contract signed with the French Navy

Dec 21, 2020

 

COMEX SA is pleased to have won the new public contract from the French Ministry of the Armed Forces for the MCO* recompression chambers. (* Maintenance in operational condition of the recompression chambers of the French Navy and Army).

 

COMEX SA is pleased to have won the new public contract from the French Ministry of the Armed Forces for the Maintenance in operational condition of the recompression chambers of the French Navy and Army.

Our team is in charge of maintenance for :

  • 31 hyperbaric chambers embarked on ship / container / ashore
  • 1 diving simulator chamber 500 m
  • 1 recompression chamber for the Army

For the maintenance of the French Navy’s hyperbaric chambers, the long-standing and fruitful partnership that links us began in 2009. Our team was already in charge for maintaining in operational conditions the 30 hyperbaric installations on its naval bases ashore or on board its buildings and ships.

The new contract, notified by the fleet support department, started in March 2020 and ends in March 2025. It gives COMEX the opportunity to work on all the hypobaric chambers arming the French Navy’s ships, including at the Brest, Cherbourg, Toulon, Saint Mandrier and Roscanvel naval bases, in order to carry out the regulatory inspections governed by the latest decree in force (Order of November 20, 2017).

The whole team is very pleased for this confidence renewal and for the work carried out for more than 10 years.

Our maintenance actions must guarantee the operational availability of all the hyberbaric chambers, including the maintenance of the 500-meter diving simulator in Toulon, usually called “CHM500”. Our technicians also remain mobilized to take action in case of damage so that the slightest breakdown can be repaired in less than 5 days, regardless of the location of the chamber concerned.

In addition, one of our missions will be to carry out the 10-year regulatory requalification of the 500m diving simulator; a guarantee of confidence since COMEX was already responsible for it 10 years ago.
The CHM500 center also wishes to modernize its equipment and trusts COMEX to provide innovative solutions that are adapted to their needs as well as to the particular conditions in which they operate.

A great proof of confidence for the COMEX teams specialized in hyperbaric technologies!

 

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COMEX partner of Merré Shipyards

COMEX partner of Merré Shipyards

Sep 8, 2020

Located north of Nantes, Merré Shipyards are recognized as a multi-specialist in shipbuilding.
With the construction of eight military ships, 26.50-metre cruisers for French Navy’s mine clearance divers, Merré shipyards have been awarded their largest order ever.

DGA (French MOD) have selected this specialist in custom-made coastal ships to build a series of dive support vessels, a contract worth tens of millions of euros.

COMEX will be partner in this project and will equip the eight DSVs with their latest generation hyperbaric chamber units.

The eight aluminium Dive Support Vessels (VSP) will be assigned to support Navy mine clearance divers or commandos operations at sea.

Construction of the first vessel is scheduled to begin during the second semester of 2020, with tests at sea starting one year later.
Following a three-month operational evaluation of this first Vessel by the Toulon based Navy Mine Clearance Diver Unit, Merré Shipyards will carry on with the manufacturing of the seven remaining units, all of which to be delivered by 2025.

The 8 diesel-electric hybrid vessels will be dispatched to support the groups of clearance divers at the Naval Bases of Toulon, Brest and Cherbourg, as well as the Navy diving school of Saint-Mandrier.

Comex Engineering Department is responsible for the design and the manufacturing of the hyperbaric chamber units at their factory as well as for the installation and the commissioning on board the VSPs.

Comex Services Department will provide end user personnel hands-on training for the operations and maintenance of the dive support equipment.

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