Control system of B2C

one of Biosphere 2's "Lungs"

What are the "lungs" of Biosphere 2, and why do we have

them? Well, consider for a moment the fact that the

Biosphere is a sealed structure. Each day as the

temperature rises, air pressure builds up in the Biosphere.

Without some way to increase the volume of the

structure to accomodate this change in pressure, the

facility would explode. The lungs help us avoid such a

disastrous problem, expanding and contracting their

volume in response to diurnal variations in pressure.

In addition, our ability to control the height of each lung

allows us to stimulate air flow within the Biosphere. After

the Summer Experiment that just ended, we "flushed" the

atmosphere of Biosphere 2 with ambient (outside) air. The

lungs served a central function in helping us control the

atmospheric exchange between "Biosphere 1" and

Biosphere 2.