Team News Riveting
New Delhi, April 25
In line with Prime Minister’s direction of boosting availability of oxygen to hospitals, the PM CARES Fund has given in-principle approval for allocation of funds for installation of 551 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Medical Oxygen Generation Plants inside public health facilities in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that these plants should be made functional as soon as possible. He said that these plants will serve as a major boost to oxygen availability at the district level.
These dedicated plants will be established in identified Government hospitals in district headquarters in various States/UTs. The procurement will be done through Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The PM CARES Fund had earlier this year allocated Rs 201.58 crore for installation of additional 162 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Medical Oxygen Generation Plants inside public health facilities in the country
The basic aim behind establishing PSA Oxygen Generation Plants at Government hospitals in the district headquarters is to further strengthen the public health system and ensure that each of these hospitals has a captive oxygen generation facility. Such an in-house captive oxygen generation facility would address the day to day medical oxygen needs of these hospitals and the district. In addition, the liquid medical oxygen (LMO) would serve as a “top up” to the captive oxygen generation.
The system will go a long way in ensuring that Government hospitals in the districts do not face sudden disruption of oxygen supplies and have access to adequate uninterrupted oxygen supply to manage the COVID-19 patients and other patients needing such support.
A medical expert has recommended the immediate installation of pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants in hospitals to ensure smooth oxygen supply to patients, including those infected with coronavirus, to prevent deaths.These oxygen concentrators utilize a molecular sieves to absorbent gases and operate on the principle of rapid pressure swing adsorption of atmospheric nitrogen onto zeolite minerals at high pressure. At high pressure, the porous zeolite adsorbs large quantities of nitrogen, because of its large surface area and chemical characteristics. The oxygen concentrator compresses air and passes it over zeolite , causing the zeolite to adsorb the nitrogen from the air. It then collects the remaining gas, which is mostly oxygen, and the nitrogen desorbs from the zeolite under the reduced pressure to be vented.