DRDO to setup 500 medical oxygen plants under PM cares fund

• DRDO to set up 500 medical oxygen plants under the PM care fund within 3 months.
• Union health secretary Rajesh Bushan is in charge of this mission.
• These medical oxygen plants employ technology provided by DRDO AND CSIR.
• Onboard O2 generation Tech of Tejas LCA to be used.
• Catering to hospitals having 200-500 beds.

To fight the current crisis of oxygen for covid-19 patients, DRDO took the initiative to set up 500 medical oxygen plants within 3 months under PM cares fund. This is the massive plan that DRDO is coming up with to set up MOPs in hospitals. In a significant development to medical oxygen plants funded by PM, cares have been installed at the Orange Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and RML hospital within a week. These oxygen plant already functions in some of the Military hospitals in North-East regions. They have been given a target to set up 500 such plants all over India in different states.

These states are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi at 100 locations.” These PSA(Pressure Swing Adsorption) will come in varying capacities to generate oxygen, catering to hospitals with 200 to 500 beds. They employ technology provided by DRDO and CSIR, absorbing nitrogen from ambient air to concentrate oxygen. The oxygen thus generated will be supplied straight to patients admitted in hospital”, the statement said. PSA is a process by which ambient air passes through an internal filtration system that has a large enough total surface area to separate nitrogen from the air, concentrating the remaining oxygen to a known purity. All medical oxygen generator plants generate oxygen at a scale of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This whole process is under the Administrative Control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas and the Nation’s Liquid Medical oxygen requirements. Two of five to be set up in and around Delhi by DRDO and its industrial partners and are now being installed at AIIMS trauma center and RML hospital. Within one week Safdarjung hospital,  Lady Hardinge medical college Jhajjar hospitals MOPs need to be installed.

“These MOPs are designed for a flow rate of 1000 liters per minute(LPM). The system can cater to 190 patients at a flow rate of 5 LPM and charge 195 cylinders per day, ” said DRDO official on Tuesday. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bushan underlined the measures taken by the government to resolve and streamline logistic issues related to the transport of oxygen supply from manufacturing source of hospitals. He also talked about the 24×7 control room of the department for the promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPPIT) which is working to resolve all transportation-related issues of Delhi for a smooth supply of oxygen.

For knowing more about how PSA cylinders work

For further information about MOPs in Delhi