Air Products has developed a new patent-pending technology that reduces the loss of normally vented oxygen by as much as 30% from a compact, multi-cryogenic tank system that supplies hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment centres.

The new technology is part of a system that has been installed at the Saint Peter’s University Hospital’s Wound Care Centre® and Hyperbaric Services unit in Monroe Township, New Jersey.

Based on a comparison with other systems, the healthcare centre has used 30% less oxygen in one year.

Unlike conventional medical oxygen supply systems, Air Products’ high efficiency supply system first pulls oxygen in the form of a gas, rather than a liquid, to eliminate a rise in the tank’s pressure, thereby reducing the product loss by venting that would otherwise result. Because many oxygen uses are intermittent, such as with hyperbaric chambers and certain other hospital applications, a conventional supply system may experience significant losses of cryogen or oxygen when the end use is temporarily stopped.

Air Products’ new supply system was designed to meet these challenges to minimise any gaseous oxygen losses.

“The St. Peter’s Monroe facility presented several challenges, including space and height restrictions,” said Mike Reinhardt, Medical Business Manager at Air Products. “However, innovative thinking on the part of our engineering team, driven by their passion to provide solutions, led to the invention of a multi-vessel, short, low-loss system that has enabled St. Peter’s to benefit from greater efficiency and optimization of its oxygen supply.”

Depending on volume requirements, Air Products’ high efficiency supply system can work with a variety of medical and industrial gases applications that employ batch/intermittent usage or start-and-stop consumption.

To reduce the risk of supply interruptions, Air Products’ TELALERT® telemetry system can be added to the high efficiency supply system to remotely monitor product supply, and forecast and schedule deliveries when they are needed, providing customers with an even more reliable, worry-free supply.