Clinical trials on oxygen concentrators developed by researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), as one of the two key efforts to address the oxygen shortage during COVID-19, have found that they are on a par with compressed oxygen cylinders. To date, the technology has been transferred to 24 companies and about 35 units have been supplied to various hospitals, said IISc in a press release.
It added that the Karnataka government recently issued a circular for the supply of two units each to 2,508 public health centres from the licensees.
“A prototype capable of producing oxygen at more than 93% purity at 5 litres per minute (LPM) and 82% at 10 LPM was developed by August 2020. The researchers then modified this prototype which now delivers more than 93±3% purity oxygen at 10 LPM within three minutes,” stated the release.
The second solution caters to the needs of hospitals — an oxygen generation system. “The process is based on a twin-bed swing adsorption system integrated with storage and discharge vessels, and various safety systems. Last month, the first unit based on this system was installed at the Pobbathi Medical Centre in Bengaluru,” the release stated.
On August 15, Prof. Rangarajan, director of IISc, inaugurated an open-source design for a medical oxygen generation system with 50 LPM capacity. “The system will be installed at St. Mary’s Polyclinic in Lucknow, and has the capability to fill ten 47-litre cylinders at 200 bar pressure within 24 hours, apart from supplying oxygen to patient beds.”
