Can welding Oxygen be used in place of medical oxygen?

[Tony944]

I have and I've filled hundreds of tanks. The oxygen is the same from the main tank. The difference is the tanks themselves. Medical tanks are also tagged with lot numbers for traceability. Must also meet USP specs for purity.

It makes sense for the oxygen company to go with the highest level of purity in all cases.

Don't forget about aviation grade too.

I do not know what co. you work for but it seems that gas you have seen it has being purified and filtered before it got there, Organization I witnessed are in recovery business of few different gases.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Did they have different grades on the oxygen? Most gas companies have argon, acetylene, helium, etc. but along the way they can sequester and process oxygen to meet all requirements at the same time. Saves having additional tanks.

No, I'd not use a tank from welding service for my medical oxygen but barring potential contamination from the tank, is is the same stuff loaded.

[James Wilkinson]

I hope it was 99.99% pure.

[Doctor Bob]

Read this link - the difference is in the chain of custody of the bottle. M edical Grade Oxygen is just oxygen - the bottle itself is presumed "clean" if it's labeled Medical. The oxygen inside is the same, no matter what the outside of the bottle says.

xygen-different

[Paintedcow]

On Friday, June 18, 2010 ........

The OP died long ago, when he began breathing from an Acetylene tank while smoking a cigarette. Pieces of his lungs were found as far as 20 miles away.

On Friday, June 18, 2010 ........ On Friday, June 18, 2010 ........ On Friday, June 18, 2010 ........

I think the time has come to start a class action lawsuit against Homeownershub.com

Any Website (such as Homeownershub) who reproduces this message without my permission, WILL BE PROSECUTED!

[hucker67]

Yes it is ! I'm telling mom

[trust8675]

I work for a welding supply company that handles both medical and industria l grade Oxygen. yes they are both filled from the same tank of bulk oxygen . Then problem isnt what is put in the tank. Its what was in the tank befor e. A typical oxy act cutting set up can bleed actylene back into the oxyge n bottle if ran dry. There are so many other means of contamination. Medica l bottles are used for medical only. So the 99.50% required to make USP oxy gen is true for all oxygen bottles. But its the other .50% that you dont kn ow what you are getting.

[avinishu44]

please tell me that can we use welding gas for medical purpose (oxygen) for my dad

[Kurt V. Ullman]

It's BAAAACKKK!

[dweaver552]

Um, who gives a shit if your questions were a hundred years ago, some of the oldest books are still read to this day, if someone has an input, then f*ck you, you lame retarded bastard,

[yhartsfield]

In my area of the mid-continent fly-over country the commercial fill plants that fill "welding" oxygen cylinders also fill FROM THE SAME BULK STORAGE tank (whose contents are generated by their in-house oxygen separation plan t) MEDICAL oxygen. There is no difference as to purity. It's all essentia lly laboratory-quality (I use 'gas' in a lab setting; the same truck that d elivers our welding oxy also delivers to the lab) oxygen. There may be a d ifference in aviation oxygen due to moisture content that might freeze at a ltitude. My knowledge of engineering would indicate that the oxygen separa tion process would by virtue of its temperatures also remover ALL moisture. If there is a separate FAA criteria, I suspect it's somewhat artificial a s to whose turf is being invaded---similar to aircraft A&P mechanics requir ed to have different licenses simply to change oil in an airplane.

[blickley]

I am typing this comment in 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis in the United States. My wife and I are in the age group that is told that people our age are more susceptible to serious health complications if we are victims of this virus. One symptom of getting COVID-19 is that the lungs lose their ability to provide enough oxygen to the critical organs in the body. After reading many informed comments on several group discussions, I sought and assembled what I think are the necessary attachments for my welding oxygen tank. I purchased a quality pressure valve that attaches to my oxygen tank that has an outlet that fits on a medical oxygen hose. This regulator has a pressure gauge monitoring the tank pressure and a regulator valve that controls the volume of oxygen being delivered to the patient. Because I am concerned about some comments about possible buildup of contamination in an older steel tank, I purchased a small engine gas filter that fits on the oxygen line and a medical bacteria filter for placement in the oxygen line. Because I became aware that oxygen from my tank would be too dry for a medical emergency use, I purchased a hospital quality humidifier bottle that will contain distilled water and is made for the purpose of humidifying medical oxygen. I put the humidifier bottle in the oxygen tube after the small engine filter and before the bacteria filter. This humidifying bottle also has a filter in it. Because some comments mentioned that the patient shouldn't breath just the pure oxygen, I am not using a face mask to administer the oxygen but am using the small tube that has two nozzles that are placed under the nose. This will allow the patient to inhale the pure oxygen and the natural room air at the same time. I consulted with a doctor who thinks my setup should be helpful if needed. I'm open for comments and criticism.

[gfretwell]

If you are worried I suppose you could put in a filter but oxygen tends to be a pretty clean gas anyway, even if it doesn't have the tracking a medical bottle does, simply because so many things you might mix with it goes boom. I think once you get up into the 150 and larger, they are all medical grade.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Just about every supplier uses the same source to fill tanks. Main difference is Medical comes with a certification.

Using a cannula you want to supply about 2 liters per minute, but even half that helps. Use of a humidifier depends on your situation with ambient air. Yes, the O2 is dry but you also do not want too much moisture in the lungs. You can also buy an oximeter to check her saturation so you can see what her typical is and if it goes low.

Problem with your tank is the supply limit. OK for a while but an H tank has about 7000 liters. That will give you about 55 hours.

If you can get a hold of liquid O2 you can get a week out of a fill.

[wblickley76]

Thanks for the replies. As I continue to try to be prepared, I found the following to give guidance for the use of oxygen provision in a critical situation:

[Ralph Mowery]

Have you looked into the oxygen concentrator machines ? You would not have to keep getting more supplies of oxygen in the tanks.