overunity33 - 12-8-2010 at 01:19
Hi, interested in making an oxygen concentrator. Designs I have read involve 2 tubes of zeolite and utilize pressure swing absorbation. Compressed
air at around 20psi moves through the first tube of zeolite for 30 seconds or so, then a valve is switched and it starts flowing through the other
tube. Each tube runs for 30 seconds and then decompresses for 30 seconds. The tubes absorb the nitrogen from the air and during their decompression
phase release it into the air.
My questions are:
1) What size granules of zeolite is preferable for this? The smaller the better?
2) Do the canisters release nitrogen effectively when they decompress to the atmosphere or do they need to be flushed with air?
3) Will the tubes heat up as a result?
4) If I wanted to produce 5L of O2 (~75%+, not medical grade) a minute, whats the ballpark size for a 2 tube setup? Can anyone help me calculate
zeolites nitrogen holding capacity?
densest - 12-8-2010 at 09:32
Are you doing this for fun or are you going to use the oxygen? Rebuilt medical concentrators are available for $300-500 if you're going to use the O2
for a project.
See this thread: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=14011 It includes some patents and a reference to a monograph.
It's not simple or easy to get right.