Medical Oxygen Cylinder

O2
Medical Oxygen Cylinder

Oxygen is a colorless, tasteless and odorless gas, whose molecule consists of two oxygen atoms (the chemical formula is O2). Oxygen is part of the atmosphere, water and more than 1,400 minerals such as silica, silicates and aluminosilicates, marbles, basalts, hematites and other minerals and rocks. Oxygen makes up between 50 and 85% of the mass of plant and animal tissues because it is contained in the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that make up living organisms. Oxygen is liquefied at a temperature of -182.96 °C, and it acquires a light blue color, freezes at a temperature of -218.7 °C, turning into light blue crystals. Gaseous medical oxygen is obtained only by low-temperature rectification from atmospheric air, after compression and cooling by purifying it from impurities of other gases.

APPLICATION:

  • • for gas supply of intensive care units where artificial lung ventilation is carried out;
  • • in hospitals, clinics, sanatoriums for enriching medical gas mixtures, filling oxygen cushions, in oxygen chambers, in wards with a special microclimate;
  • • in the treatment of chronic respiratory failure, bronchial asthma, pneumonia, tuberculosis, obstructive bronchitis, allergies, intoxication;
  • • to improve tissue trophism and reparative processes after heart attacks and strokes;
  • • in the treatment of anaerobic infections (in severe diseases such as gangrene, thrombophlebitis, trophic ulcers);
  • • to increase the efficiency of radiotherapy for malignant neoplasms;
  • • for disease prevention and immune system strengthening (oxygen cocktails and baths).
Requirements for transportation, storage and use of medical gaseous oxygen cylinders are established by the Federal standards and regulations in the field of industrial safety "Regulations of industrial safety for hazardous facilities using equipment operating under excessive pressure", GOST 26460-85 "Products of air separation. Gases. Cryoproducts. Packaging, labeling, transportation and storage", GOST 5583-78 "Industrial and medical gaseous oxygen. Technical Conditions (with Amendments N 1, 2, 3, 4)", fire safety standards, as well as other laws and regulations and international agreements in force on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Cylinders are not hazardous cargo until they are taken into use, but in any case they should be transported in conditions that exclude mechanical damage.

Cylinders filled with medical gaseous oxygen shall be transported by any mode of transport in accordance with the Regulations on Hazardous Goods Transportation applicable to this mode of transport.

Cylinders may be transported in special containers, as well as without containers in an upright position, always with spacers between them and secured against possible falling.

The cylinders must be transported with caps screwed on.

Cylinders designed for storage and transportation of medical gaseous oxygen must not be used for storage and transportation of other gases, and it is prohibited to perform any operations that may contaminate their internal surface and degrade the physical and chemical properties of the gas.

It is forbidden to make any modifications to the cylinder bodies using welding or mechanical tools, which can lead to damage to the integrity or appearance of defects that degrade the technical characteristics of the cylinders.

Before filling the cylinders for medical gaseous oxygen, they must be checked for the absence of impurities of combustible gases with a gas analyzer, and they must also be purged with the pressure of the medium to be filled.

The nominal pressure of oxygen in a full cylinder at 20°C should be 14.7 MPa (150 kgf/cm2) or 19.6 MPa (200 kgf/cm2).

The gas in the cylinders must not be completely consumed when in use. The residual gas pressure in the cylinder must be at least 0.05 MPa (0.5 kgf/cm2).

Valves in oxygen cylinders must be screwed in with the use of sealing materials, the ignition of which in oxygen environment is excluded.

A simplified formula can be used to determine the remaining amount of gas in the cylinder: VO2 = V x PO2, where VO2 is the volume of oxygen in the cylinder (l); V is the cylinder capacity (l); PO2 is the pressure of oxygen in the cylinder according to the pressure gauge (kgf/cm2).

As an example, you can determine the amount of oxygen in a 40-liter cylinder with a residual pressure of 100 kgf/cm2: 40 x 100 = 4,000 liters (or 4 m3).

Also, when using, it is always necessary to remember that the pressure of oxygen in the cylinder changes with the temperature. For example, a cylinder filled with oxygen at a temperature of +20 °C to a pressure of 150 kgf/cm2, when the temperature rises to +40 °C will have a pressure of 160 kgf/cm2, and when lowering to 0 °C - 140 kgf/cm2, to -20 °C - 130 kgf/cm2, to -40 °C - 120 kgf/cm2.

"Industry Fire Safety Rules 07-91. Fire Safety Rules for Healthcare Facilities" establish special requirements for storage of cylinders with medical gaseous oxygen. They should be installed (no more than 10 pieces of 40 liters each) in special fireproof cabinets outside the building in the partitions at a distance of at least 4 m from the window and door openings horizontally and vertically or in one-story additions made of non-combustible materials.

When storing oxygen in the amount of more than 10 cylinders with a capacity of 40 liters, each central oxygen storage and distribution point should be located in a freestanding building with walls of non-combustible materials without window openings with a readily removable cover and at least 25 m from the buildings and structures. Cylinders with medical gaseous oxygen should be installed at least 1 m away from heating devices.

Low volume cylinders
Мedium volume cylinders