Date: 26/04/2021 14:14:04
From: Obviousman
ID: 1729554
Subject: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

I saw the news reporting on the medical grade oxygen shortage in India and I was wondering: how do you produce oxygen on an industrial scale?

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Date: 26/04/2021 14:15:51
From: dv
ID: 1729556
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

Cryogenic distillation of air.

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Date: 26/04/2021 14:16:34
From: Michael V
ID: 1729557
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_plant

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Date: 26/04/2021 14:19:31
From: Michael V
ID: 1729560
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

Michael V said:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_plant

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_separation

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Date: 26/04/2021 14:29:15
From: party_pants
ID: 1729572
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

For medical oxygen there is also the pressure swing adsorption method. Most hospitals should be able to produce their own oxygen on site with a suitable machine without relying on the more complex cryogenic distillation method.

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Date: 26/04/2021 16:25:43
From: SCIENCE
ID: 1729640
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

plant trees and grow algae

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Date: 26/04/2021 16:44:11
From: The Rev Dodgson
ID: 1729645
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

Produce hydrogen from water and collect the waste product.

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Date: 26/04/2021 16:50:08
From: SCIENCE
ID: 1729646
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

decarbonise the atmosphere

wait

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Date: 27/04/2021 04:34:26
From: SCIENCE
ID: 1729882
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

medical grade oxygen shortage in India

stoner thought for the night: if they stopped using oxygen for all those cremations, then there would be more oxygen around to save lives and there wouldn’t be as many deaths

disclaimer: we haven’t been stoned tonight

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Date: 27/04/2021 16:33:02
From: mollwollfumble
ID: 1730217
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

Yep, several mehods. The only one I know at all well is the cryogenic method.
I worked on the Linde cryogenic oxygen plant at the Wollongong steelworks for a couple of months. Multiple stages of compression, cooling and expansion to get liquid oxygen. Liquid oxygen is heavily used in the basic oxygen process, which is the best process for recycling steel scrap.

Medical grade wouldn’t have to be all that pure, a small percentage of nitrogen would be OK.
At a pinch, a rebreather would allow medical oxygen to be used multiple times before it would need to be thrown away.

I also have a bone to pick with medical oxygen supply. When my daughter was burning up from pneumonia they heated the oxygen supply she was fed. Which made her burn up faster, and die faster. Pneumonia patients need to be fed cold oxygen to extract the extra heat from the fever, oxygen at a temperature no hotter than 10 degrees C, and 5 or even 0 degrees would be better. This cool temperature is easy to obtain by expansion from compressed storage.

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Date: 27/04/2021 17:38:12
From: SCIENCE
ID: 1730246
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

mollwollfumble said:

Pneumonia patients need to be fed cold oxygen to extract the extra heat from the fever, oxygen at a temperature no hotter than 10 degrees C, and 5 or even 0 degrees would be better. This cool temperature is easy to obtain by expansion from compressed storage.

sounds like a recipe for catastrophic bleeding from the nose / throat / lungs and if somehow that is avoided then some pretty tensed up and not very effectively breathing lungs

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Date: 27/04/2021 17:43:01
From: Michael V
ID: 1730254
Subject: re: Producing O2 on an industrial scale

SCIENCE said:


mollwollfumble said:
Pneumonia patients need to be fed cold oxygen to extract the extra heat from the fever, oxygen at a temperature no hotter than 10 degrees C, and 5 or even 0 degrees would be better. This cool temperature is easy to obtain by expansion from compressed storage.

sounds like a recipe for catastrophic bleeding from the nose / throat / lungs and if somehow that is avoided then some pretty tensed up and not very effectively breathing lungs

Nods.

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