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The main difference between industrial and medical oxygen is that for medical oxygen the providence of the tank is tracked to make sure that it has only been us
by extrapickles 7y ago
The main difference between industrial and medical oxygen is that for medical oxygen the providence of the tank is tracked to make sure that it has only been used to store oxygen, and hasn't been left unused for a long period of time. With the massive need for various gasses and the cost in transporting them long distances, most large metro areas have at least one air distillation plant that produces them.
Pressure Swing Absorption oxygen generators have been getting cheaper, and will separate oxygen from air as long as they have electrical power and maintenance every few months. PSA is not suitable for all medical uses though as it typically produces 90-95% oxygen and is not directly capable of producing pure oxygen.
- Fomite 7y agoYeah - but doing some work for one such distributor, "Are we delivering to hospitals?", "Are we unloading at hospitals?", "Do we have surge inventory?" and "Do we want the cylinders back if they've been used for coronavirus patients, or do you need to decontaminate them first?" are all questions being asked. They have various answers, but my experience now working on H1N1, SARS, Ebola and COVID-19 is that hospitals weirdly take the flow of oxygen as a given.
- gpm 7y agoA quick search suggests that we produce 99% oxygen just by running it through two stages of pressure swing absorption. Is that also not good enough for hospitals? If so, what do we use for even purer oxygen.
- Fomite 7y agoThe issue is not making the oxygen. It's distributing and delivering it.