A pneumatic bladder is an
inflatable
An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflat ...
(
pneumatic
Pneumatics (from Greek 'wind, breath') is the use of gas or pressurized air in mechanical systems.
Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located a ...
) bag technology with many applications.
Emergency management applications
Pneumatic bladders are used to seal drains and ducts to contain
chemical spills or gases. Pneumatic bladders are often used for the containment of chemical spills,
oil spills
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...
or
fire water on water to prevent them from entering the environment, usually in the form of
booms.
Marine applications
The Reef Ball Foundation uses a pneumatic bladder technology to float an artificial coral reef ("reef ball") into location, then deflate the bladder to sink the reef to the bottom.
Other applications
Pneumatic bladders, known as
dunnage bags, are used to stabilize cargo within a container.
Pneumatic bladders are used in medical research.
Leading edge inflatable kite
A leading edge inflatable kite (LEI) is a single skin kite with inflatable bladders providing structure. It is useful as a power or traction kite. These kites are flown using 2, 4 or 5 control lines and a bar. (See also: kite control system ...
s use pneumatic bladders restrained by a fabric case; the bladder is selected slightly larger than the case, so that at operational inflation the bladder is not stressed while the case defines the final shape of the leading edge. Many of the wing's airfoil ribs are similarly bladdered.
See also
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Balloon
A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...
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Bladder
The bladder () is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys. In placental mammals, urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra during urination. In humans, the bladder is a distens ...
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Bladder (disambiguation)
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Fuel bladder
Fuel bladders or fuel storage bladders are a type of flexi-bag used as a fuel container. They are collapsible, flexible storage bladders (also known as tanks) that provide transport and storage (temporary or long term) for bulk industrial liquids ...
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Swim bladder
The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...
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List of inflatable manufactured goods
This is a non-comprehensive list of inflatable manufactured goods, as no such list could ever completely contain all items that regularly change. An inflatable is an object that can typically be inflated with a gas, including air, hydrogen, heliu ...
References
Marine salvage operations
Environmental engineering
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