OXYGEN

CONCENTRATOR

Why the project?

INTRODUCTION:-

• There are a lot of people who need supplemental oxygen to survive like patients, mountaineers, scuba divers etc. There are various methods to provide pure oxygen for patients and mountaineers but all the equipment's are heavy and very expensive. We thought of a new method to produce and supply oxygen to these people at a much lesser price. The equipment this project is about is very light as well, much lighter and portable than conventional oxygen concentrators, due to the extremely light but durable polycrystalline material and 3D printing.

Literature Review

An oxygen concentrator is a device that concentrates the oxygen from a gas supply (typically ambient air) by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched product gas stream. Two methods in common use are pressure swing adsorption and membrane gas separation.

Oxygen concentrators presently in use The main parts in a current oxygen concentrator are:

1. Motor
2. Compressor
3. Heat exchanger
4. Zeolite sieve beds
5. Product tank
6. Flow meter.

Pressure Swing Adsorption

• In a concentrator, Two sieve beds are located . After air is first compressed , it goes into the first sieve bed containing Zeolite. Zeolite absorbs the gas. Since atmospheric air is 78% percent nitrogen and 20% percent oxygen, when you remove nitrogen, you are left with oxygen-rich air. The concentrated oxygen is sent into the product tank. The first sieve bed then gets filled up with nitrogen. Next, the gas flow is switched, and the compressed air is moved to the second sieve bed. Then the nitrogen gas which was trapped in the first sieve bed is released into the air. The whole cycle starts over again with the first sieve after a few seconds.
• The cooling system that keeps the portable oxygen concentrator from overheating, and the nasal cannula that delivers the purified oxygen after the oxygen has been passed through all the sieve bed filters. The cannula helps improve oxygen absorption. It is powered by a battery as of now. It is manufactured Industrially. Some of the leading industrial manufacturers of Oxygen concentrators in the market are Philips, Respironics etc.

Membrane Gas Separation

• It is a pressure driven process, where the driving force is the difference in pressure in between inlet of raw material and outlet of product. The membrane used in the pressure is a generally non porous layer of different natural and synthetic polymers. The flow of gases through the membrane is depends on the permeability and selectivity.
• At the heart of the technology are polymeric membrane materials that allow for rapid passage of a single gas, while minimizing the passage of others, when applying a pressure gradient across the membrane.
• The process works by compressed air being directed down the center of the module fibres. As the compressed air passes down the fibre, Oxygen molecules pass through the wall of the fibre and Nitrogen molecules continue down the hollow fibre and exit at the opposite end. The separation process is quite simple and involves no moving parts, making this process ideal for applications of concentration of oxygen.

Portable oxygen concentrator

• There are many portable oxygen concentrators available in the market now-a-days. These oxygen generator used the same concept as of pressure swing adsorption on small scale.
• For the efficiency and for the low cost availability of these portable oxygen concentrator, it provide oxygen in pulse form, it means discontinuous flow of oxygen, which is only beneficial to the people who are not sleeping. For to work it even the person is sleeping ,the concentrator become comparable large and it is expensive.

OTHER PRODUCTS IN MARKET

OTHER PRODUCTS IN MARKET

What’s new ? How?

MOTIVATION

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• To make a mobile device that can be used instead of the regular oxygen cylinders to provide oxygen to mountaineers.
• Today, mountaineers have to pay huge sums of money for oxygen cylinders, and once they pay the amount they have to carry these extremely heavy cylinders along with their heavy kits. We want to change the current scenario and make it more easy to breathe in the mountains so that these mountaineers can actually enjoy the terrain.

OBJECTIVE

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• We are building an equipment that uses certain chemicals to react in the presence of a catalyst to produce clean oxygen along with water.
• To build a much lighter and cheaper substitute for the oxygen cylinder which would be a huge benefit for the rugged terrains of mountains.

Components

The solution :-

We are building an equipment that uses the reactant H2O2 react in the presence of manganese dioxide to produce clean oxygen along with water.

The equipment consists of the following parts:-

● The Motor (air pump)

● The H2O2 reservoir

● The reaction chamber

● The battery and arduino chamber

● The catalyst palette

● The Air Bag

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Market Survey

Market Survey

The Reactant

• The concentration of H2O2 that we're intending to use is around 85% or 350 volume H2O2. 350vo1ume concentrated H202 means 1 ml of H2O2 will give 350 ml of oxygen upon reaction. An average human takes around 10 breaths per minute and each breath consists of around 200 ml of oxygen. This data corresponds to an average human needing 2 liters of oxygen per minute.
• So for one minute the total amount of H2O2 required is 5.6 ml (approximately). For an hour of usage the user needs 336 ml of H2O2.
• So for an extremely long trek of 20 hours (Everest summit trek) the user only needs to carry around 7 liters of H2O2.

Methodology

• We did a survey with mountaineers for a typical Mt. Everest trek and according to our research we found out that:-
• Today, people who go for trekking or mountaineering or diving have to carry heavy oxygen cylinders and have to pay a heavy price for it.
• They have to carry 20 kilograms and pay 1000 USD for four cylinders of oxygen on an average for a trek from camp 4 to the summit and back to camp 4.
• Typically this journey lasts anywhere between 18-20 hours.
• Typically on an average a person takes 12 breaths per minute with 700ml of air per breath. So in 20 hours the person would need 1,00,80,000 ml of air which is 1,00,80 litres of air.

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Methodology

• Considering the average concentration of oxygen being 20%, we calculate a net oxygen requirement of 2016 litres.
• We have thought of using the chemical reactant hydrogen peroxide to produce oxygen continuously for the mountaineer.
• To break the reactant H202 we need a catalyst too.
• We decide to use Manganese Dioxide as our catalyst.

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The Motor:-

The motor is used to draw in the oxygen deprived air from the outside and store it in the airbag. The user carries H2O2 bottles along with him, the H2O2 is carried from the bottle into the reservoir using a tube. The H2O2 is then carried into the reaction chamber, which houses the manganese dioxide palette where is reacts with manganese dioxide to produce clean Oxygen and water.

This oxygen is then added into the air bag containing the oxygen deprived air hence increasing the concentration of oxygen in the air bag. This oxygen-rich air is now supplied to the user using a tube that goes through the equipment into a mask with the user is wearing. The motor is run by the power resulting from the batteries and is controlled by the arduino.

15L/min High Flow 555 Vacuum Pump/ Air Pump

The Reservoir:-

The Reservoir is also housed inside the equipment to ensure that in case the user runs out of H2O2 in his bottle then he gets some extra time to swap H2O2 bottles and doesn't run out of air during that time.

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The reservoir holds around 250 ml of H2O2 which will last or give the user around 53 minutes of breathing time which should be enough time for the user to swap the old H2O2 bottle and replace a new one.

The Breathing Mask :-

The Mask consists of of four small holes which

will allow the user to breathe in the outside air along with the air that the equipment provides. This ensures that the user doesn't feel suffocated while using the equipment.

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The concentrated oxygenated air would be supplied through a hose straight to this mask that the user would wear

The Equipment:-

The overall equipment is quite compact keeping in mind that the equipment houses everything starting from the motor to the

Reservoir and the reaction chamber, it also houses 6 batteries and the Arduino which will keep the equipment running for over 8 hours. the battery pack is swappable so whenever the equipment is at 20% power it will alert the user that the equipment has 20% power and the user can swap out batteries and can again enjoy a full 8 hour journey.

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As the atmosphere at the altitudes is expected to be quite chilly, the insides of the equipment is coated with aluminum insulating it, so that any heat that is resulting from the exothermic reaction stays inside and doesn't go out. as a result of which instead of getting cold oxygen from the oxygen cylinders now the users can breathe the warm oxygen provided by the equipment.

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Samsung 18650 3.7V 3000mAH Lithium Ion Rechargeable Battery

Materials Required

The model of oxygen concentrator we are trying to make is a complex structure which not only provides the oxygen but it also

1. 1. Stores the reactant
2. 2. Takes in Air from the atmosphere
3. 3. Does the reaction to make Oxygen

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All this requires multi-layered compartments in order to-

1. Prevent environment exposure.
2. Keep the reactants separated.
3. Facilitate smooth reaction.
4. Thus unlike normal oxygen bottles used this has to be made of different mix of materials for optimal performance and higher shell life.

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OUTER STRUCTURE

• The outer structure is made using 3D printing. SO in order to create the structure we want we have researched and decided on the materials to be ABS (Acrylonitrile, Butadiene and Styrene polymers).
• We needed our product to withstand huge thermal differences and thermal gradients. Which ABS handles efficiently
• Although it is more difficult to print than PLA, ABS remains a very popular material for 3D printing professionals due to its resistance to impact and low temperature (between -20°C and 80°C).
• It is opaque, offers smooth and shiny surfaces and can be welded by chemical processes using acetone.

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INNER LINING

• The inner lining of the ABS plastic polymer is done in aluminium to provide extra structural integrity and protection in case of crash or collision
• Unlike other metals, which can become brittle in extremely cold temperatures, aluminum, and its alloys rise to the occasion, and become even stronger.
• Aluminum alloys were shown to retain ductility at extremely low temperatures with no increase in brittleness.

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REACTION CHAMBER AND RESERVOIR

• H2O2 is a very corrosive compound and it decomposes into water and oxygen and water in the presence of light and heat.
• To prevent any decomposition in the reservoir or the reaction chamber both are made up of brown glass.
• Glass is almost completely inert, so it doesn’t break down or leach chemicals into whatever it’s storing.
• Brown glass prevents any light from entering into the reservoir thus preserving the compound.
• Glass is also uses as it is very inexpensive and can be found anywhere
• Glass can also be easily strengthened by using techniques like tempering and by the addition of various metals and minerals during manufacturing.

CAD DESIGN

• The reservoir is on the top left with the capacity of 250cm³.
• The reaction chamber is on the top right with the capacity of 200cm³.
• The space on the bottom is to set the airbag and necessary heating modules/wiring

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CAD DESIGN(TOP VIEW)

• H₂O₂ will drip from the reservoir into the reaction chamber overtime.
• On the right side we have the space for battery, motor and air bag which will be used to concentrate the O₂.

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The H2O2 bottles

• Due to the extreme low temperatures and to prevent the H2O2 from freezing while stored in the bottle each bottle will be equipped with a small heating coil which will keep the H2O2 at a constant temperature of 2°C.
• To power this heating coils each bottle will have a battery compartment which will house two batteries which will have enough power to keep the H2O2 warm for over one day.

COST ESTIMATION

• The weight and the cost:- The equipment will be quite lightweight and it would not weigh more than four kilograms.
• The density of H2O2 at 85% concentration is around 1.4g/cm3 so one litre of H2O2 will weigh around 1.4 kilograms. today for the Everest Summit the mountaineers carry a weight of around 19 kilograms for the entire journey of 20 hours but with our equipment the user only has to carry 4 + 10=14 kilograms of total weight (maximum).
• The overall manufacturing cost of the equipment is around 7000 rupees and one H2O2 bottle(empty) is 700 rupees.

CONCLUSION

• In contrast to today’s oxygen concentrators and oxygen tanks that are used for supplementary oxygen needs, which are costly and heavy, this research paper explores a new product which uses the reaction of H2O2 with MnO2 to produce O2 and H2O. This method is cheaper and the product is lighter than the ones we have today.
• 3D printing using polycrystalline durable material to make the product’s reaction chambers and complex parts. This could potentially reduce time of manufacturing and help improve quality of the product. This product has a wide array of application from Scuba diving to mountaineering and even as portable, lightweight oxygen generators for medical purposes.
• The product being more than 5kg lighter than current products and having potential to decrease weight even more with advancement of 3D printing, the potential is immense. It is estimated that this product could help reduce cost of supplementary oxygen concentrators from Rs. 75000 to Rs. 12000.

REFERENCES

• www.oxygenconcentratorstore.com
• www.oxygenconcentratorsupplies.com
• www.verywellhealth.com
• www.nano-di.com
• https://ocw.mit.edu/highschool/chemistry/demonstrations/videos/the-steaminggun/steaming_gun.pdf
• Catalytic Decomposition of H2O2 over Manganese Oxides Supported on an Active Alumina Nasr-Allah M. Deraz, M.A. El-Sayed and A. Abd. El-Aal
• https://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/askaphysicist /physics-answer.cfm?uid=20080512103521
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_concentrator https://www.filtsep.com/research-anddevelopment/news/unisieve-technology-used-in-oxygenconcentrator