Flexible oxygen concentrators for medical applications

Medical oxygen concentrators (MOCs) are used for supplying medical grade oxygen to prevent hypoxemia-related complications related to COVID-19, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. MOCs often use a technology called pressure swing adsorption (PSA), which relies on nitrogen-selective adsorbents for producing oxygen from ambient air. MOCs are often designed for fixed product specifications, thereby limiting their use in meeting varying product specifications caused by a change in patient’s medical condition or activity. To address this limitation, we design and optimize flexible single-bed MOC systems that are capable of meeting varying product specification requirements. Specifically, we employ a simulation-based optimization framework for optimizing flexible PSA- and pressure vacuum swing adsorption (PVSA)-based MOC systems. Detailed optimization studies are performed to benchmark the performance limits of LiX, LiLSX and 5A zeolite adsorbents. The results indicate that LiLSX outperforms both LiX and 5A, and can produce 90% pure oxygen at 21.7 L/min. Moreover, the LiLSX-based flexible PVSA system can manufacture varying levels of oxygen purity and flow rate in the range 93–95.7% and 1–15 L/min, respectively. The flexible MOC technology paves way for transitioning to an envisioned cyber-physical system with real-time oxygen demand sensing and delivery for improved patient care.