Overview of Oxygen Tanks or Cylinders. Gas cylinders or portable oxygen tanks are still widely used in hospitals and outpatient clinics. While portable oxygen concentrators are becoming increasingly more practical for long-term oxygen therapy, there is still a place for portable tanks. Many doctors prescribe oxygen therapy via standard portable oxygen tanks until either the patient stops using oxygen or a long-term solution becomes necessary.
The 2 Oxygen States of Portable Oxygen Tanks Pure oxygen in a portable tank comes in 2 different states: compressed oxygen gas and liquid oxygen. However, compressed oxygen gas is Manufacturers extract oxygen from the atmosphere and compress only the oxygen gas molecules, then fill up aluminum tanks until they reach about 2, pounds per square inch PSI of pressure. For comparison, the air pressure in a standard sedan automobile tire is about 40—44 PSI, so oxygen tanks are under considerably more pressure.
When compressed oxygen gas is released from a portable oxygen tank, the high pressure inside the tank forces oxygen outward. The release of pressure creates the oxygen liter flow that travels to your desired oxygen delivery device such as a nasal cannula or oxygen mask. Additional Equipment Info:. Name Please enter your name. Please enter your name. ASUs use a process called fractional distillation, which separates the components of air after cooling it to a liquid state, then extracting liquid oxygen from it.
The oxygen is then transported either directly through a pipeline connected to the production plant, if the end destination is close to it, or via special containers such as aluminum cylinders.
For larger quantities, cryogenic containers, such as the ones Tata is importing, are used. Hospitals usually either get bulk tanks that supply internal oxygen pipelines, or purchase refillable oxygen cylinders. Oxygen cylinders come in different sizes, and can be pretty heavy. The largest size is about 1. A Covid patient in a hospital can require up to 30 liters of oxygen a minute, so it would last about four hours.
Hospitals can also opt for on-site generation of oxygen, which is typically done by pressure swing adsorption PSA , which separates the gases present in the air by concentrating them. It produces oxygen of lower purity than ASUs yet pure enough to be used by hospitals.
Earlier in the pandemic, the Indian government solicited bids for PSA plants—facilities containing machines able to condense oxygen from the air—for government hospitals, but it took eight months to award the contract, and so far only 33 of them have been installed and not all are functional across 15 states, leaving most facilities dependent on external provisions.
According to official government sources, the country produces over 7, metric tons of oxygen per day, while the country needs 8, metric tons a day, according to the latest estimate, supplied by a government official to the Delhi High Court. Prior to the Covid outbreak, the need was for about metric tons a day. However, as Scroll reported , the demand might be underestimated. Altogether, they consume about 2, metric tons a day—leaving the overall available supply at about 4, metric tons.
Further, the number of cases has gone up dramatically in the past few days, so the shortage may be at least 3, metric tons a day—and rising. Even with an additional 50, tons the government has planned to import , oxygen supplies are bound to be insufficient. The government has recently taken measures to help in this respect, by allowing tankers on any roads, regardless of limitations like state-specific permits , giving them priority status similar to ambulances.
Cylinder-filling facilities, too, are now allowed to operate hours a day, seven days a week, and cylinders typically used for other gases are being turned into oxygen containers after sanitizing.
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