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Making O2
at Home:
The Total O2 Concentrator
IMPORTANT:
The information here provided is for
educational purposes only and it is not intended nor implied to be a
substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your own
physician or healthcare provider with any questions you may have
regarding a medical condition. |
The feature stories for March and April focus
on devices
that allow you to fill oxygen cylinders at home. Both of these devices
consist
of a concentrator that simultaneously produces the oxygen for you and
the
cylinders, and a compressor which fills the cylinders.
Consider the following.
- The concentrator, which creates nearly pure oxygen from
room air on the fly, is the most common method of oxygen delivery in
the home. From an oxygen provider's point-of-view, a concentrator is
cost effective because it requires only periodic service calls.
- The most common oxygen delivery systems for use outside the
home utilize oxygen that is stored either under compression or in
liquid form. From the oxygen providers point-of-view, both storage
forms require frequent service calls to replace empty cylinders with
full ones, or to fill empty liquid oxygen reservoirs.
Concentrators which can also fill cylinders can substantially reduce
not only the trip frequency but also the required inventory of
cylinders and reservoirs. For some oxygen providers there is enough
incentive that they are willing to provide homefill systems.
Perhaps a homefill system is for you. While it may take a
little more work on your part, it may be important to you to have
control of your oxygen source. If so, read both this month's and last
month's articles about homefill systems.
March's feature story addresses Invacare's Venture ™ Homefill II ™.
April's feature story addresses Chad
Therapeutics' Total O2 ™
The Total O2
The Total O2Delivery System
(image) was developed by Chad Therapeutics to give users' control over the
production of the oxygen for their portable systems.
The Total O2 Delivery System consists of the Total
O 2 concentrator/compressor, compressed oxygen
cylinders, and oxygen conservers, as described in the following
sections.
The Concentrator/Compressor
The cabinet of the Total O2contains both a
concentrator and a compressor. The concentrator provides the user with
as much as 3 Lpm of oxygen. The compressor can simultaneously fill
cylinders which have been adapted for filling by Total O
2 . The compressor operates "downstream" from the
concentrator, meaning that a failure of the compressor will not
interfere
with the concentrator's ability to provide oxygen to the user.
The Total O2 cabinet has a footprint of 19 by 17
inches, is 30 inches high, and weighs 70 pounds. It requires 5.2 amps
of current and consumes 600 watts of electricity per hour. Its average
noise level is less than 50 decibels. It is available in both 110 volt
and 230 volt models. It is equipped with an oxygen purity sensor that
alerts the user with both a visual and audible signal when the purity
drops below 90 percent. Your oxygen provider determines the servicing
interval on the Total O 2 .
The Cylinders
The Total O2 can fill any of six sizes of cylinders.
If you already use one or more of these cylinders, you may recognize
their names from this list: M2, M4 (or A), M6 (or B), M9 (or C), D, and
E.. If you do not know the names, measure your cylinders' circumference
and height with a tape measure and match
up your measurements with those in Table 1.
Table 1
Approximate Dimensions of Cylinders
|
M2
|
M4(A)
|
M6(B)
|
M9(C)
|
D
|
E
|
Diameter
|
8
|
10
|
10
|
14
|
14
|
14
|
Height*
|
5.5
|
8.5
|
11.5
|
11
|
16.5
|
15.5
|
*to base of valve
|
The Total O2 cylinders are identical to the ones you
currently use, with the following two exceptions:
- Each has a protected fill valve that makes it impossible
for these cylinder to be filled from any source except Total O 2.
This assures the purity of the oxygen in the cylinder and that the
cylinder is free of contaminants.
- Each has a built-in pressure gauge
(image) that displays the current pressure in the
cylinder.
You use the gauge for two purposes:
- While the Total O2 is filling the
cylinder, you can observe the progress.
- When using the cylinder as your source of oxygen, the gauge
tells you how much oxygen remains in the cylinder. When full, the
gauge's needle points in the green area to 2,000 psi. When the needle
is in the red area, the pressure is below 500 psi and the time to
replace the cylinder is close.
The Conservers
You can order one of seven Oxymatic (OM) conservers to use with your
home filled cylinders. These conservers fall into one of the three
series. All the conservers within a series have the same outward
appearance, as described below and shown in Table 2.
- The standalone conserver of the 300 series
(image) is a free standing conserver that has a separate regulator,
mounted on the cylinder, and has tubing that connects it to both the
user and the regulator.
- The donut-shaped conserver of the 400 series
(image) , which has a single casing containing both regulator
and conserver, easily slips over the valve of the cylinder.
- The conserver with a yoke of the 500 series
(image) , which also has a single casing containing both
regulator and conserver, easily slips over the valve of the
cylinder.
Table 2
Conserver Data
|
300
Series
|
400
Series
|
500
Series
|
|
Conserver
|
OM-302
|
OM-311
|
OM-401
& 401A
|
OM-411 & 411A
|
OM-511
|
Appearance
|
Stand-
alone |
Stand-
alone
|
Donut
|
Donut
|
Yoke
|
Type
|
Electronic
|
Electronic
|
Electronic
|
Electronic
|
Pneumatic
|
Frequency of Delivery
|
Intermitent Breath
|
Every Breath
|
Intermitent Breath
|
Every Breath
|
Every Breath
|
These conserver are of two types: electronic or pneumatic.
- Electronic conservers require a battery. As Table 2 shows,
conservers in both the 300 and 400 series are electronic. Each requires
a C-cell battery. Each has a battery indicator light that turns red
when the battery requires replacement. You should always carry a
spare battery.
- Pneumatic conservers require no battery. They operate on
the pressure internal to the cylinder.
Conservers deliver pulses of oxygen as you breathe. Some deliver the
pulse on every breath while other provide it on intermittent-breaths,
as shown in Table 2.
As shown in Table 3, intermittent breath conservers deliver pulses less
frequently at lower pulse settings. When set to 1, they deliver a 40 ml
pulse every fourth breath, at setting 2, every other breath, and at
setting 3, three of every four breaths. At higher pulse settings, these
conservers deliver a pulse on every breath at a graduated larger size.
Table 3
Pulses (in ml)
|
300 & 400 Series
|
500 Series
|
|
Pulse
Setting
|
Intermittent
Breath
|
Every
Breath
|
Every
Breath
|
1
|
40*
|
10
|
16
|
2
|
40**
|
20
|
32
|
3
|
40***
|
30
|
48
|
4
|
40
|
40
|
64
|
5
|
50
|
50
|
80
|
6
|
60
|
60
|
96
|
|
*pulse every 4th
breath
**pulse every other breath
***pulse on 3 of every 4 breaths
|
As also shown in Table 3, the amount of oxygen you receive at a given
setting from any of the 300 or 400 series conserver is the same. For
example, at Setting 2 the intermittent-breath conservers deliver a 40
ml pulse on every other breath, whereas the every-breath conservers
deliver a 20 ml pulse on every breath.
The choice between intermittent and every breath
conservers is a matter of your personal comfort. Recognize that
the larger the pulse, the greater its noise level. So at setting 2,
a pulses of 20 ml on every breath would be less noisy than a pulse
of 40 ml on alternate breaths..
As also shown in Table 3, the Series 500 pneumatic conserver provides a
larger pulse at all settings than both the 300 and 400 series. Users
may discover that this pneumatic conserver can provide them with the
oxygen they need at a lower setting than a conserver from one of the
other two series.
While we are the subject of noise, here are a couple of things to
consider. First, the noise of a pulse is not as noticeable nor does it
travel as far as you might believe. I know there are times, like during
the sermon at your church, that you wished your conserver were less
noisy. These are the times to consider switching to the continuous
flow. You should do this only when your prescription does not exceed
2 Lpm at rest and when you have prepared by carrying along sufficient
extra cylinders.
How many extra cylinders should you carry to church? That depends on
the length of the sermon and the size of your
cylinders. Conservers of all series have a continuous flow option,
factory set to 2 Lpm. The first row of Table 4 shows that these
cylinders will last a 20 bpm user from one-third hour for the smallest
to 5. 4 hours for the largest when set to continuous flow.
Table 4
Duration (in hours) at 20 bpm
|
|
M2
|
M4(A)
|
M6(B)
|
M9(C)
|
D
|
E
|
Continuous Flow *
|
0.3
|
0.9
|
1.35
|
2
|
3.4
|
5.4
|
500 Series**
|
0.9
|
2.8
|
4.1
|
6.2
|
10.6
|
17.0
|
300 & 400 Series**
|
1.5
|
4.7
|
6.8
|
10.3
|
17.7
|
28.3
|
*at 2 Lpm
** at Setting 2
|
You should label each of your cylinders with its
duration when on continuous flow so that when your battery dies
and you have no spare, or when your conserver dies, you will know
how much time you have left while on continuous flow before your
cylinder
runs out.
You should also label each of your cylinders with its duration when
using the conserver at the selected setting. Table 4 also shows the
duration of all the conservers at setting 2 for
the user with a breathing rate of 20 bpm. If your breathing rate is
greater than 20 bpm, the duration of your cylinders will be less, and
if less
than 20 bpm, the duration will be more. If your setting is different,
you can calculate the duration at your setting. For example, if you use
Setting 1, double the duration shown in Table 4, and if you use Setting
4, halve the duration shown in the table.
The Filling Process
As shown in Table 5, the Total O2 fills a cylinder
in about 1.2 hours for the smallest cylinder to 22.5 hours for the
largest. I am sure that these cylinders could fill more quickly,
but by so doing, a lot of heat would be
generated within your home.
Table 5
Capacity & Time to Fill Cylinders
|
M2
|
M4(A)
|
M6(B)
|
M9(C)
|
D
|
E
|
Capacity (liters)
|
36
|
113
|
153
|
246
|
425
|
680
|
Time to Fill (hrs.)
|
1.2
|
3.8
|
5.1
|
8.2
|
14.2
|
22.7
|
The process of filling cylinders seems to be straight forward and easy,
if you have read the instructions, which appear above the cylinder
filling switch, and adhere to the safety messages. Place and secure the
cylinder in the filling cradle, engage the cylinder's fill port and
lock it in place, and turn the cylinder filling switch to the On
position.
There is a video which describes the filling process and
troubleshooting procedures. Ask your oxygen provider for this video, or
order one at no cost to you from Chad by calling their Customer Service
at 1-800-423-8870, Extension 300.
Near the cylinder filling switch are two indicator lights.
- The filling indicator is solid green while the
cylinder is filling, then flashes green when filling is complete.
- The oxygen purity sensor indicator turns solid
yellow if the oxygen purity falls below 90 percent, at which point, the
filling process automatically stops.
Selecting Conserver and Cylinders
Your major decisions regarding the Total O
2 Delivery System are the selection of the conserver and
the cylinders. Here are some things to consider as you make these
decisions.
Conservers
If your physician has prescribed continuous flow for you, you can
probably use your regulator on Total O 2
cylinders. If you currently use a conserver and if that conserver
provides adequate oxygen support, you may want to use it with the
Total O 2 cylinders. Your oxygen provider will know.
If you do not use a conserver or if the one you currently use does not
support you, you should work with your oxygen provider's respiratory
therapist (RT) to identify the conserver equipment
and the conserver settings you should use while at rest and while
walking. You may need to secure a prescription from your physician
to secure the services of an RT.
Cylinders
The cylinder is the biggest tradeoff of a portable system. The smallest
and lightest empty the quickest. The largeest and heaviest last the
longest. If you are presently a portable oxygen user you
know this well and can move on quickly to select the cylinders which
help you the most.
If your physician, for the first time, has asked that you use a
portable system you may need some suggestions in selecting cylinders.
You, like many users, may select several of two sizes
of cylinders--on size to carry and a second to pull on a cart.
All the cylinders discussed in this article, except
for the D and E cylinders, are designed to be carried over the
shoulder. Most are within the carrying range of most of us. They
weigh between 5 and 7 lbs., yet feel heavier when carried in bitter
cold or when the heat and humidity soars into the 90s.
The D and E cylinders can be wheeled on a cart. This seems effortless,
until it is time to load it into the back seat of a car, or to drag it
up a set of stairs, they seem heavier than their 12 to 15 lb. weight
with a cart.
Your decisions now about cylinders and conservers
should not be final. Over time, your needs and the equipment you
require to meet them will change. Ask your oxygen provider how flexible
they are at meeting your needs with the Total O2
Delivery System
Click here
to see a list of other feature stories.
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© 2003 Copyright
Peter M. Wilson, Ph.D.
Founder of PortableOxygen.org
You have permission to
print this document for your personal use. You also have permission to
print, copy, and distribute this document to oxygen users and their
caregivers.
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