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Liquid medical oxygen not feasible, Navi Mumbai civic body focuses on storage of dura cylinders
The target is to have 200 dura cylinders with a capacity of 175 cubic metres and storage tanks with a capacity of 90 kilolitre (KL)
With the proposed liquid medical oxygen (LMO) project not turning out to be feasible, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has decided to focus on oxygen storage. The civic body will now invest more in dura cylinders and storage tanks for the preparation of the third wave. While five Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants are in making, one is inaugurated. All other arrangements for the third wave are expected to be ready by August 15.
After experiencing immense pressure on oxygen demand during the second wave, NMMC while planning for the third wave had decided to install five PSA plants and one LMO plant. The plan was to have an LMO of 50 metric tonne on a public-private partnership (PPP), wherein NMMC would provide land to a private firm to set up the plant. While half of the oxygen would be used by the municipal hospitals, the rest would be sold to the private hospitals.
A consultant was hired to check the feasibility of the project. However, it was found that to have a feasible LMO plant there needs to be a steel plant nearby, which would buy the remaining gas that emerged from the plant. “The private firms who were ready to invest needed a guarantee that the oxygen produced would be purchased by hospitals. But what after the pandemic? We also tried to collaborate with other corporations and install an LMO plant jointly, but even that did not work out. Hence, we decided to focus more on the storage of the LMO instead of manufacturing it,” NMMC commissioner Abhijit Bangar said.
The target is to have 200 dura cylinders with a capacity of 175 cubic metres and storage tanks with a capacity of 90 kilolitre (KL).
“We have procured one storage tank of 20KL and the rest too will be done soon. The tenders for the 200 dura cylinders have also been published. We plan to have six PSA with one each at Cidco Exhibition Centre, Vashi and Airoli hospitals of NMMC, Export House, Radhaswami Hall and for the sixth, the location is yet to be finalised. While the one at Vashi hospital has already started functioning, a work order for Airoli and Cidco Exhibition Centre has been done and tenders have been published for Radhaswami Hall and Export House,” deputy municipal commissioner Babasaheb Rajale said.
The PSA plant would generate 1.8 metric tonnes of oxygen per day. While the oxygen from PSA is in gaseous form and is 94% pure can be used only for oxygen beds, the oxygen from an LMO which will be now stored in tanks and dura cylinders are 100 % pure and can be used for ventilators. “The dura cylinders are mobile and can be carried anywhere and can also be provided to private hospitals which raise an SOS request many times.
For the third wave, 250 ICU beds each are being added to Nerul, Vashi and Airoli hospitals of NMMC besides 600 oxygen beds at GD Pol institute at Kharghar and 500 oxygen beds at Mayuresh building, at CBD, Belapur. The three floors of each hospital would be ready by August 15. “The assembling of transformers is taking time and people are working in two shifts to finish the work. The beds for the ICU will start getting delivered this week. Equipment including 100 ventilators, 100 BiPAPs and 500 monitors have been received and 2000 staff have been trained to handle the ICU,” Bangar added.
