Indian Lab Develops Low-cost Medical Oxygen Plant That Can Even Be Remotely Controlled

A state-run technology innovator under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed a medical oxygen generating plant that can be remotely operated using Intelligence of Things (IoT).

The Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Petroleum has developed the plant modifying an existing Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) technology.

The 100 litres per minute (LPM) Pressure Vacuum Swing Adsorption (PVSA) plant delivers 0.2 tons per day of medical grade oxygen at 5 atmospheres pressure. It is coupled to Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and cylinder-based gas (GO2) systems to ensure the O2 supply is never disrupted. The plant has achieved Oxygen purity level of 96 percent against a specification requirement of 90-96 percent, Dr. Anjan Ray, Director of Indian Institute of Petroleum told Indian Science Journal. The unit was fabricated by CSIR-IIP¡¯s licensee and engineering partner, Gaskon Engineers in Delhi.

IIP, Dehradun

What it does?

¡°The plant is more compact; uses about 10 percent less power. Its operating cost is half of the same number of cylinders and does not require manpower to move around cylinders. It can be adapted using IOT to remote operations anywhere in the country or abroad, even from my laptop in Dehradun,¡± Dr Anjan Ray said, explaining the features of the plant.

Unlike cryogenic oxygen plants, the newly developed one costs much lower initial capital and economical even at 100 litres per minutes (5-10 L per bed normally needed, up to 20L per bed for severely affected ICU patients), Dr. Ray added.

The 500 LPM (1 ton per day) plants are priced in Rs 60-70 lakh range, which is market competitive. The first 120 plants will roll out by July end under the aegis of DRDO with funding from PM CARES. The payback period of the new plant is about 1.2 years compared to cylinders.

BCCL/Representational image

The first field-deployed medical oxygen (MO2) plant was successfully commissioned on Friday (21 May) at Aundh Chest Hospital, Pune.

National Chemical Laboratory, Pune another laboratory under CISR and multinational Bharat Forge Limited, Pune were involved in the integration of the pilot plant, its installation and validation support.

Oxygen crisis in second COVID wave

India faced severe shortage of medical oxygen as the country grappled with an exponential rise in COVID-19 infection during the second wave of the pandemic. The dire shortage has turned out to be major challenge for hospitals in many states across the country.

Hundreds of deaths were attributed to oxygen shortage in hospitals across the country, including at least two in the national capital.

BCCL/Representational image

The situation reached a critical stage, forcing the Supreme Court of India to intervene. Earlier in May the apex court set up a 12-member National Task Force to streamline and ensure effective and transparent allocation of liquid medical oxygen on a ¡°scientific, rational and equitable basis¡± to states and federally administered territories fighting COVID-19.

¡°The purpose is to ensure that the supplies which have been allocated are reaching their destination; that they are being made available through the distribution network to the hospitals or, as the case may be, the end users efficiently and on a transparent basis; and to identify bottlenecks or issues in regard to the utilization of oxygen,¡± ordered the court on 8 May 2021.

As on 21 May, India recorded 295,525 deaths due to COVID-19, according to federal Health & Family Welfare Ministry¡¯s data. The death toll during the second wave was almost half of the lives lost upto 31 December, 2020.