The first of the five oxygen plants planned by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) to ensure seamless supply of medical essential to its healthcare facilities for the treatment of novel coronavirus patients was opened at its headquarters hospital at Kothagudem on Monday.
The twin-tower oxygen generation plant has the capacity to produce 200 normal litres (NL) per minute or 12 normal cubic meters per hour sufficient to fill 40 standard medical oxygen cylinders a day. The plant has been established within 13 days of taking the decision by importing plant material from Turkey.
The plant will help meet the in-home needs of medical oxygen at SCCL’s Kothagudem hospital without depending on outside supplies. The plant was inaugurated formally by District Collector of Bhadradri-Kothagudem Anudeep Durishetty and Director (Finance, Personnel, Administration and Welfare) N. Balaram.
Recognised labour union vice-president Somi Reddy, Chief Medical Officer Dr. M. Srinivas, SCCL officers association leader M.R.G.K. Murthy, General Manager (personnel) A. Ananda Rao and others participated.
Chairman and Managing Director of SCCL N. Sridhar directed the officials concerned to bring into use the remaining four oxygen plants as planned by speeding up work on their establishment. He wanted them to complete and inaugurate three other plants at area hospitals at Bhupalapally, Ramakrishnapur and Bellampally over the next 10 days.
According to the coal company officials, at the peak of medical oxygen demand, the consumption was in the range of 45 to 60 cylinders a day in Kothagudem hospital and it was being met from the supplies from Hyderabad. Each of the five oxygen plants were being established at a cost of ₹35 lakh, including maintenance for two years.
The oxygen plants at area hospitals would have the similar capacity to produce 12 normal cubic meters of medical oxygen per hour, as that in the headquarters hospital at Kothagudem. The Ramagundam area hospital would have the production capacity of 45 cubic meters per hour and it would be readied by July first week.
The Kothagudem oxygen plant would produce medical oxygen by taking air with a powerful compressor and after processing it to make free of less than a micron size of dust and moisture, separate carbon molecules and nitrogen before sending it to the supply network to patients.
