Cabin Pressurization

Cabin pressurization is the active pumping of compressed air into an aircraft cabin when flying at altitude to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers in the low outside atmospheric pressure.
Pressurization is essential over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level to protect crew and passengers from the risk of hypoxia and a number of other physiological problems in the thin air above that altitude and increases passenger comfort generally. "The outflow valve is constantly being positioned to maintain cabin pressure as close to sea level as practical, without exceeding a cabin-to-outside pressure differential of 8.60 psi."
Maintaining the cabin pressure altitude to below 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) generally avoids significant hypoxia, altitude sickness, decompression sickness and barotrauma. Emergency oxygen systems are installed, both for passengers and cockpit crew, to prevent loss of consciousness in the event that cabin pressure rapidly rises above 10,000 feet MSL. Those systems contain more than enough oxygen for all on board, to give the pilot adequate time to descend the plane to a safe altitude, where supplemental oxygen is not needed. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations in the U.S. mandate that the cabin altitude may not exceed 8,000 feet at the maximum operating altitude of the airplane under normal operating conditions.
The pressure maintained within the cabin is referred to as the equivalent effective cabin altitude or more normally, the "cabin altitude". Cabin altitude is not normally maintained at average mean sea level (MSL) pressure (1013.25 hPa, or 29.921 inches of mercury) throughout the flight, because doing so would cause the designed differential pressure limits of the fuselage to be exceeded. An aircraft planning to cruise at 40,000 ft (12,000 m) is programmed to rise gradually from take-off to around 8,000 ft (2,400 m) in cabin pressure altitude, and to then reduce gently to match the ambient air pressure of the destination.
Pressurization is achieved by the design of an airtight fuselage engineered to be pressurized with a source of compressed air and controlled by an environmental control system (ECS). The most common source of compressed air for pressurization is bleed air extracted from the compressor stage of a gas turbine engine, from a "low" or "intermediate" stage and also from an additional "high" stage. "The exact stage can vary, depending on engine type." By the time the cold outside air has reached the bleed air valves, it has been heated to around 200 °C (392 °F) and is at a very high pressure. The control and selection of high or low bleed sources is fully automatic and is governed by the needs of various pneumatic systems at various stages of flight.
The part of the bleed air that is directed to the ECS, is then expanded and cooled to a suitable temperature by passing it through a heat exchanger and air cycle machine ('the packs system'). In some of the larger airliners, hot trim air can be added downstream of air conditioned air coming from the packs, if it is needed to warm a section of the cabin that is colder than other sections
All exhaust air is dumped to atmosphere via an outflow valve, usually at the rear of the fuselage. This valve controls the cabin pressure and also acts as a safety relief valve, in addition to other safety relief valves. In the event that the automatic pressure controllers fail, the pilot can manually control the cabin pressure valve, according to the backup emergency procedure checklist. The automatic controller normally maintains the proper cabin pressure altitude by constantly adjusting the outflow valve position, so that the cabin pressure is as near to sea level pressure as practical, without exceeding the maximum differential limit of 8.60 psi. At 39,000 feet, the cabin pressure would be automatically maintained at about 6,900 feet (450 feet lower than Mexico City), which is about 11.5 psi of atmosphere pressure (76 kPa)