Oxygen Concentrator

[bennie]

My health provider, through medi-care, brought me an oxygen concentrator for my breathing problem. This unit is about 2 foot wide by 2 foot high by 1 1/2 feet deep. It weighs 65 pounds. voltage 115, amps 4.0. This unit delivers up to 6 liters per minute.

This concentrator supplies 95% pure oxygen, and replaces the big tanks. I do have a tank in case of power failure.

My question is how do these compressors work?

I took off the enclosure and looked inside. This one looks like a nuclear war head. Very precise and polished.

I will read up on this device, maybe we can have a lesson in physics of gases.

 

[bphgravity]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Hello Bennie,

My mother works for Lincare Oxygen supply. They setup about 20 of these a week here in SW Florida! I will find out from one of the service techs how these things work. Take care.

 

[bphgravity]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Boy, this forum is good for something!

Oxygen concentrators make use of adsorption, a phenomenon in which gas molecules stick temporarily to surfaces. The forces that bind gas molecules to surfaces are weaker than ordinary chemical bonds, but they are strong enough to keep some molecules in place for seconds, minutes, or even longer. Most surfaces are decorated with adsorbed molecules and the only really clean surfaces are those prepared in nearly perfect vacuum conditions. Some molecules stick better than others to each surface, a fact that makes it possible to use adsorption to separate various molecules from one another.

The heart of an oxygen concentrator is a porous material known as a zeolyte. With a vast network of tiny holes, it resembles a miniature Swiss cheese and presents an enormous amount of surface area on which gas molecules can adsorb. At ordinary temperatures and pressures, air molecules stick occasionally to the surfaces of some of the pores. Nitrogen molecules stick more often than oxygen molecules because nitrogen molecules bind somewhat more strongly to the zeolyte surface than do oxygen molecules. Zeolytes tend to concentrate oxygen in the air by removing most of the nitrogen molecules.

To extract as much nitrogen as possible, an oxygen concentrator pumps pressurized air into a container of zeolytes. The zeolytes adsorb most of the nitrogen in this air, leaving nearly pure oxygen for breathing. But the zeolytes eventually saturate with nitrogen molecules and can adsorb no more. At that time, the oxygen concentrator removes all gas from the container and the nitrogen molecules gradually leave the zeolyte surface. After this regeneration cycle, the container of zeolytes is ready to begin concentrating oxygen again. To keep oxygen flowing at all times, a typical oxygen concentrator has two separate zeolyte-filled containers. At any given time, one container is providing oxygen for breathing while the other is regenerating by releasing its stored nitrogen into the air.

 

[bennie]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Thanks Bryan, I sure don't need to research this device anymore.

I see the cost of a concentrator is about a Thousand Dollars, for the 6 LPM unit.

 

[cs409]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

my mother was attached to a concentrator for over 4 yrs,,,,,,during this 4plus yr period, my wife and myself where her sitter/care giver etc(she lived with us instead of putting her in a home).....one thing that i havent forgot is the noise,,,,,,the constant noise of the machine running,,,not to mention the heat it generates!! put the machine in a spare room and have your supplier bring you a long hose,,,,,if the power failed the alarm sounds.....without the machine running, the silence was enough to wake me!!! make sure you clean the water tank once a week and keep it full of distilled water......also the intake filters need cleaning weekly,, good luck..........

 

[bennie]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

The one I have is quiet.The name brand is Invacare. I don't mind it at all.

Tomorrow I get my second chemotherapy treatment. I hope this tumor shrinks so I can breate easier.

My hair should be gone as the two week period gets near. I can save the price of a hair cut.

 

[bphgravity]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

A very common and very funny concern my mother hears on almost a daily occasion is customer concerns about becomming addicted to the oxygen use. My mother reasures them not to be worried and informs them that we are ALL addicted to oxygen. Just try to go without it!

 

[bennie]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Bryan: That is a good one

Would you agree that a cemetery is rehab facility for O/2 addicts?

[ April 22, 2004, 10:01 AM: Message edited by: bennie ]

 

[macmikeman]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

God bless you bennie, I hope you recover 100% real soon. Your posts are my favorite. You have the knack of seeing things from experience rather than just repeating what the book says.

 

[pierre]

Re: Oxygen Concentrator

Bennie
I wish you well and a speedy recovery. If you get bored and would like some reading material, I have a small library and would love to send you a book. Pick a subject and I probably have a book on it.
GOOD LUCK !!!

Pierre