How Does an Oxygen Concentrator Work?

As the global healthcare system improves and expands and the demand for industrial gases continues to grow (e.g. hospital ICUs, home oxygen therapy, welding and cutting, ozone generating systems, etc.), there is a growing reliance on a stable, intelligent and sustainable way to produce oxygen.

The role of oxygen concentrator equipment systems becomes crucial, especially in situations such as responding to public emergencies, aging societies and highland hypoxic environments.

However, the traditional distribution model of bottled oxygen or liquid oxygen has significant limitations: not only is it inconvenient and costly to transport, but it also carries the risk of explosion and does not allow for continuous oxygen supply. Because of this, a new generation of Oxygen Concentrator, which can realize on-site oxygen production, on-demand oxygen supply, and intelligent control, is rapidly emerging and gradually replacing the traditional oxygen supply method.

• Definition:

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. They are used industrially, to provide supplemental oxygen at high altitudes, and as medical devices for oxygen therapy.

Oxygen concentrators are used widely for oxygen provision in healthcare applications, especially where liquid or pressurized oxygen is too dangerous or inconvenient, such as in homes or portable clinics, and can also provide an economical source of oxygen in industrial processes, where they are also known as oxygen gas generators or oxygen generation plants. Two methods in common use are pressure swing adsorption and membrane gas separation.

• Overview of technology paths:

The core principle of the oxygen generation equipment is to extract oxygen from air efficiently, and its main technology route is mainly based on Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA), and at the same time, according to the different demand scenarios, it will also adopt the technologies of VPSA, Membrane Separation, and Deep Cooling Air Separation. The following is a disassembly of the workflow and technical principles:

• Air source treatment (pretreatment system)

The first step in any oxygen production process is to compress and purify ordinary air to ensure that the air source sent to the adsorption system is pure, dry and oil-free.

The main steps include:

Air compression: use oil-free air compressor to provide stable air pressure

Dust removal and filtration: multi-stage precision filter to remove particles and impurities

Cold-dryer or suction-dryer: to reduce the humidity of the air and prevent the molecular sieve from failing to absorb moisture

Suggested Configurations: The standard pre-treatment kit with "cold-drying + three-stage filtration + automatic drainage" can significantly extend the life of the core components.

• PSA Technology Core Working Mechanism (Mainstream)

PSA: Pressure Swing Adsorption

Brief description of the principle:

Key adsorption material: molecular sieve (Zeolite 13X / LiX)

Using molecular sieve adsorption capacity difference between nitrogen and oxygen, to realize the separation of oxygen and nitrogen under different pressures.

One adsorption tower adsorbs nitrogen and releases oxygen. One adsorption tower adsorbs nitrogen and releases oxygen; the other tower desorbs and regenerates.

The two towers run alternately, constituting a closed loop of "continuous oxygen supply".

Range of oxygen concentration in the discharge gas: 93%~99.5% (adjustable depending on the configuration).

 Advantages:

Room temperature operation, no liquefaction required.

High degree of automation, easy maintenance.

Highly adaptable, applicable to medical, industrial and small and medium-sized gas consumption scenarios.

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In addition to  Oxygen Generators, we also produce VPSA Oxygen Generators, storage tanks, heat exchangers and other products. If you are interested in PSA Oxygen Systems or other products, please feel free to send an email to sales@gneeheatex.com. We will be very happy to serve you.