Mumbai civic body to set up 16 oxygen plants at 12 hospitals

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday announced to set up 16 oxygen plants at 12 hospitals across the city

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday announced to set up 16 oxygen plants at 12 hospitals across the city. These plants are estimated to produce 43 metric tons (MT) of oxygen on-site itself, from atmospheric air.

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It will take one month for the plants to be commissioned, as the tendering process for the same is ongoing, the BMC said. Once completed, the plants will have a life span of a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years. The project is estimated to cost ₹90 crore.

The civic body announced on Saturday, “Once commissioned, these plants will decrease BMC’s dependency on third parties for oxygen supply. It will also cut cost by more than half if compared to the cost of the acquiring equal amount of oxygen as Jumbo cylinders from the market.” P Velarasu, additional municipal commissioner (projects) will be in charge of implementing this project.

Mumbai presently utilises 240 to 250 MT of oxygen per day across hospitals in the city. BMC has two suppliers on board to meet this demand. However, in its statement, the civic body said on Saturday, “Considering the increasing demand of oxygen for the rising number of Covid-19 patients, many of whom require constant and measured oxygen supply, the government and administration find themselves in a tight spot to ensure supply from market always meets demand. To decrease this dependency, such oxygen plants will be set up.”

This will also ensure the civic body has permanent infrastructure for the manufacture of such an important resource, the statement said.

Presently, BMC has an oxygen generating plant with a capacity of about 500 cubic meters per day at Kasturba Hospital, set up two years ago, and a project at Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Hospital in Jogeshwari with a capacity of 1,740 cubic meters per day, set up a year ago.

“Oxygen generation projects in both these hospitals are functioning well and they are becoming very valuable during the period of Covid-19 infection. Both of these projects are based on the technique of generating oxygen from atmospheric air,” BMC said.

When supplying oxygen to patients using the pressure swing absorption technique, the air is first compressed at the appropriate pressure in the plant and then filtered. This removes impurities from the air such as dust and other particles. The purified air available after this process is collected in an oxygen generator. Both the nitrogen and oxygen gases are separated from this pure air by a chemical mixture called zeolite, ​​in the oxygen generator. Separated oxygen is stored at an appropriate pressure. It is then supplied to the patients through ducts or pipes.

On April 18, the Twitter handle of the health ministry tweeted that of the sanctioned plants, 33 had been installed in various states and Union territories, including Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Bihar and Maharashtra, among others. “In addition to the 162 plants already sanctioned, [states] have requested Government of India for more than 100 such additional plants, which are also being sanctioned,” the verified ministry handle stated.”