Purchasing at in-home or portable oxygen concentrator isn’t just like purchasing a toothbrush. It’s a purchase that helps you breathe and saves your life. That means it is something you will want to know all the “in’s and outs of”.
So, what exactly is an oxygen concentrator? Essentially, an oxygen concentrator either works on electricity or via a battery and takes in room air, removes nitrogen from it and provides up to 95% pure Oxygen.
Room air passes through a series of filters and is drawn into the concentrator via a compressor. This air is then compressed into a molecular sieve bed where all the nitrogen is absorbed. Then the oxygen is ready to be supplied to a patient via a delivery system such as a nasal cannula or oxygen mask.
The compressor within the concentrator continues to get saturated into the sieve bed until it gets saturated. (This usually happens at a pressure of 20 psi.).
Right before the saturation happens, a switch valve turns on and output of the air compressor is immediately switched to a second sieve bed. During this saturation process, the nitrogen trapped in the first sieve bed is vented out and released. The process then repeats itself, this time with the second sieve bed ensuring a continuous flow of oxygen available at all time. This process is also known as Pressure Swing Adsorption.
Oxygen concentrators are life-savers for so many. It’s valuable information to understand the essentials of how they work.
For additional questions and to find out which concentrator is right for your needs contact Bridge To Care at 800-801-3781 or visit BridgeToCareUSA.com.