4 ms·

Do you guys still need oxygen there? How is the situation there really? I called a few of my contacts, and get very diverging pictures. No interruptions in Koch

Do you guys still need oxygen there? How is the situation there really? I called a few of my contacts, and get very diverging pictures. No interruptions in Kochi, to some stress in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, to total apocalypse in Noida. I see oxygen production being such a basic industrial process, that I never could've imagined even a most poorly industrialised country having troubles producing it. It's tragic seeing the lack of something so seemingly trivial costing so many people's lives. Anyways, if anyone really need a really emergency only O2 source: 1. Get a 200A-300A DC welding machine, most importantly with as much safety features as possible. 2. Reasonably fine stainless steel mesh, use most pure stainless you can find. Carbon felt if possible. Roll up in tubes. Weld/braze thick copper conductors the top, make sure they can handle the current without melting things. Make sure to cover exposed copper with something less electrically conductive, in worst case, smoking hot cooking oil. Make sure it does not get onto stainless. 3. Either a U or H shaped vessel from PP or PVC piping, available at plumbing supplies. Alternative, a plastic bucket, and two drinking water bottles perforated a bit in their lower part. Put electrodes into them. 4. Find something to cap vessels, use original caps from bottles. Make holes in them for conductors. Then find hoses you can get through those caps. Use reasonably thick plastic hose to survive hot O2. A proper oxygen hose would be idea. Drill the caps, get hoses through them, and seal any openings with hot glue, silicone caulk, or, in worst case, chewing gum. If you can't find anything to seal it, use the thickest plastic bag you can find, and tape it. 5. Make some semblance of bubblers. Small plastic beverage bottles work well for this. 6. Fill with drinking water, or settled tap water. Make sure there is no chlorine in it. Make sure that water does not reach copper parts, even if they are well protected. 7. Add a table spoon of lye, or soda to water. Mix. 8. Connect electrodes to welding machine. 9. Test it starting with smallest current. 10. If things work, connect hoses to bubblers. Make sure the hydrogen hose goes outdoor, to a very, very well ventilated place. 11. Make some semblance of a breathing mask for the apparatus. Connect it to oxygen supply through a breathing bag. Make some holes in the breathing bag. Eye the calculation so that incoming oxygen displaces at least 10 times the volume of exhaled CO2. 12. Top off water as the thing works using something to protect yourself from being zapped. 13. Adjust the current, holes in the breathing bag, lye/soda content, and bottle position (if used the bottle version) for optimal output. 14. Replace water if it gets too muddy from dissolving impurities from anode, or anything else in the system. It it does, think of finding other materials. With 200A 220V supply, you can make 1-3 kg of oxygen per hour, 4-5 kg in the most ideal scenario.

offmycloud 6y ago
Using crudely produced industrial oxygen for medical purposes (human breathing) is dangerous. Even with the warnings included above, people will not fully understand the risks and consequences of using a DIY oxygen generator, including long-term lung damage.
oasisbob 6y ago
> I see oxygen production being such a basic industrial process, that I never could've imagined even a most poorly industrialised country having troubles producing it. This article discusses some of the challenges being faced, sounds like most of them are around distribution. India has a large steel industry which is very capable of generating and condensing oxygen. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/coronavirus-second-wave-oxygen-crisis-more-than-supply-lack-of-tankers-and-plant-location-key-challenges-7291716/ https://indianexpress.com/article/india/coronavirus-second-w...
- baybal2 6y ago
  LO2 reserve in any hospital should've been enough for weeks per refill. And hospital with on-site O2 generation should've never had any issue. Any industrial scale O2 production machinery would've had many times the capacity reserve. But they didn't. Double digit of hospital O2 generators were out of service, and LO2 tanks were never filled to full because hospitals were saving on LO2 service. Some hospitals with central O2 systems from either tanks, or generators simply had them disabled for unfathomable reasons, had them broken down years ago without any attempt at repair, or simply never ever used them, so they don't know how to operate them.
PragmaticPulp 6y ago
They don't need bulk oxygen generated ad-hoc. They need medical grade oxygen delivered in standard medical equipment that they can use in a controlled manner right away. Chemistry experiments won't solve this.
- baybal2 6y ago
  > They don't need bulk oxygen generated ad-hoc. They need medical grade oxygen delivered in standard medical equipment that they can use in a controlled manner right away. Right now, I believe from reports on the ground, that they need just any oxygen to hold on for 2-3 more weeks. First hand report I got is that LO2 tankers been all around on TV, but despite that all hospitals in the area been empty of oxygen for 3-4 weeks without any resupply coming in sight, and this is in one of richest cities in India. > Chemistry experiments won't solve this. Tell this to people about to die. You are so cynical. 1.5-2 kg of oxygen per hour should be enough to support 2 people. 20 at least 10. The mess, depravity, and despair I heard is such that people have already tried just anything. Zeolite has been sold out across India for a few weeks. Hydrogen peroxide sold out. Any chemical which can be used to produce oxygen chemically is out of stock. People are already blowing themselves up, and causing blackouts by following Youtube voodoo science trying to make completely unsound electrolyzer designs. You are not getting any "proper" oxygen concentrators coming any time soon with all of above. This design is at least less of a voodoo science than ones telling people to breath brown gas.

offmycloud 6y ago

Using crudely produced industrial oxygen for medical purposes (human breathing) is dangerous. Even with the warnings included above, people will not fully understand the risks and consequences of using a DIY oxygen generator, including long-term lung damage.

oasisbob 6y ago

> I see oxygen production being such a basic industrial process, that I never could've imagined even a most poorly industrialised country having troubles producing it. This article discusses some of the challenges being faced, sounds like most of them are around distribution. India has a large steel industry which is very capable of generating and condensing oxygen. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/coronavirus-second-wave-oxygen-crisis-more-than-supply-lack-of-tankers-and-plant-location-key-challenges-7291716/ https://indianexpress.com/article/india/coronavirus-second-w...

baybal2 6y ago
LO2 reserve in any hospital should've been enough for weeks per refill. And hospital with on-site O2 generation should've never had any issue. Any industrial scale O2 production machinery would've had many times the capacity reserve. But they didn't. Double digit of hospital O2 generators were out of service, and LO2 tanks were never filled to full because hospitals were saving on LO2 service. Some hospitals with central O2 systems from either tanks, or generators simply had them disabled for unfathomable reasons, had them broken down years ago without any attempt at repair, or simply never ever used them, so they don't know how to operate them.

PragmaticPulp 6y ago

They don't need bulk oxygen generated ad-hoc. They need medical grade oxygen delivered in standard medical equipment that they can use in a controlled manner right away. Chemistry experiments won't solve this.

baybal2 6y ago
> They don't need bulk oxygen generated ad-hoc. They need medical grade oxygen delivered in standard medical equipment that they can use in a controlled manner right away. Right now, I believe from reports on the ground, that they need just any oxygen to hold on for 2-3 more weeks. First hand report I got is that LO2 tankers been all around on TV, but despite that all hospitals in the area been empty of oxygen for 3-4 weeks without any resupply coming in sight, and this is in one of richest cities in India. > Chemistry experiments won't solve this. Tell this to people about to die. You are so cynical. 1.5-2 kg of oxygen per hour should be enough to support 2 people. 20 at least 10. The mess, depravity, and despair I heard is such that people have already tried just anything. Zeolite has been sold out across India for a few weeks. Hydrogen peroxide sold out. Any chemical which can be used to produce oxygen chemically is out of stock. People are already blowing themselves up, and causing blackouts by following Youtube voodoo science trying to make completely unsound electrolyzer designs. You are not getting any "proper" oxygen concentrators coming any time soon with all of above. This design is at least less of a voodoo science than ones telling people to breath brown gas.