Medical Grade Oxygen is produced either through PSA or Cryogenics Plant

10

Dec

Medical Grade Oxygen is produced either through PSA or Cryogenics Plant

Ashok Sengupta

Oxygen is used mostly in the medical field, and in commercial settings such as welding, and it can be created through the use of oxygen plants, i.e. man-made plants that produce oxygen artificially by using solar panels on a regular basis to aid reduction of carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Since the demand of oxygen has increased these days, many companies have started manufacturing oxygen plants. There are two types of oxygen plants; PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) plants and Cryogenics plants. PSA oxygen plants are the most widely used oxygen plants in today's date because of their cost effective procedure and flexibility. Manufacturing of an oxygen plant is done in a variety of ways depending on the technology used for the plant.

Oxygen produced by PSA plants has a purity level of 99.5% and a major advantage is the low cost of operation overall. The main downside is that these oxygen plants have a high initial cost and they are relatively large in size.

Oxygen produced by cryogenics plants (cryogenic plants) has a purity level of 99.995% and the main advantage is its minimal contamination output, which reduces downstream processing time. This type of oxygen plant is also very compact and highly efficient especially for spot market demands. Today's cryogenics plants represent the latest advances in technology capable of producing high purity oxygen from air with an initial concentration up to 63 %, thus providing a competitive solution for all applications that are not able to be served by PSA plants.

These plants are used to remove traces of nitrogen and other heavy gasses present in the oxygen. Pressure Swing Adsorption plants are generally utilized where purity requirements are not stringent. The oxygen plant is available in single or double column configuration. Pressure is supplied by a compressor which operates in a range of 80 to 100 bar. This pressure is applied to the uptake section or columns, causing a separation of nitrogen and oxygen glasses. When the precise purity level is achieved, the solvent gas stream is diverted to the overhead condenser section via solenoid valves or pressure operated valves.

Oxygen can be used for many different applications. The first application is to remove carbon monoxide from gaseous fuel oils to prevent the formation of acid rain from the non-oxygenated gaseous fuels. The second application is to produce oxygen enriched air for welding and cutting. By using oxygen for the combustion you reduce or eliminate the amount of fuel gasses, which are more expensive than oxygen, in your combustion process.

India’s leading Medical PSA Oxygen plants manufacturer and supplier, the Bhartiya Cryogas is now a global supplier of the technology. The company’s PSA oxygen generator uses zeolite molecular sieve as sorbent and produces oxygen by making use of the PSA principle. Under certain pressure, zeolite molecular sieve has different oxygen/nitrogen adsorption capacity, i.e. much more nitrogen adsorption capacity than oxygen adsorption capacity.

Bhartiya’s PSA oxygen plants have the purity of 93- 95% suitable for medical consumption capacities ranging from 5m3/hr to 90m3/hr. Some of key features of the gas plant are: All Pressure Vessels shall be fabricated at our Workshop and strictly designed as per ASME SEC VIII DIV.I codes & international standards; All bought-out Equipments / Instruments are of a reputed make; Plant does not require dedicated operator for running the Gas Plant, only period check–up is required; Low capital investment and low operational cost compared to cylinders; Uses Single stage Filtration system before PSA Towers; the Carbon Molecular sieves is of Latest Grade Takeda, Japan / Carbotech, Germany make & extra quantity of CMS ensures satisfactory plant performance over many years; the Total operation of PSA Valves is done by programmable PLC; On - line percentage Oxygen Analyzer shall have Imported sensor(Citi, U.K.)

The company’s PSA unit consists of two towers filled with a special grade Carbon Molecular Sieves (CMS) to adsorb O2 & CO2 present in the air . At the bottom of each tower M.S. perforated plate with 10mm dia. hole and SS wire mesh is welded to hold the CMS filled in the tower. Just above the plate, the ceramic balls are put to act as a holding bed for CMS .The Carbon Molecular Sieves are being filled up to the straight portion at the top of tower. The perforated plate facing the bottom or the cover is the supporting element while the adsorbent is prevented from flowing out by the wire mesh. A 50 mm thick Coconut fiber mat is packed as the cover to fix the adsorbing bed . The upper perforated plate compresses adsorbent fill to avoid undesired void. The coconut fiber mat is squeezed together when the cover is tightened.

Oxygen from PSA Module has varying purity depending upon the pressure in the adsorbed during the one minute cycle time. This vessel gives product Oxygen at constant pressure with constant average gas purity.