Portable oxygen enrichment device and method of use

摘要

Lightweight, small, portable devices and methods are disclosed that provide oxygen-enriched air using an ultra rapid adsorption cycle based on advanced molecular sieve materials.

主权项

1. A method, comprising:
compressing in a device an ambient air flow comprising oxygen and nitrogen to form a compressed air flow; transporting said compressed flow through an adsorbent bed and adsorbing at least a portion of said nitrogen to form an oxygen-enriched gas flow; wherein the pressure drop across said adsorbent bed during said transporting is less than about 50 kPa; removing said oxygen-enriched gas flow to form an oxygen-enriched product; transporting said oxygen-enriched product to a first vessel and a second vessel;
wherein said first vessel and said second vessel are arranged in series; retaining a defined volume of oxygen-enriched product in said second vessel; desorbing from said adsorbent bed said portion of said nitrogen; purging said adsorbent bed with at least a portion of said oxygen-enriched product from said first vessel and without oxygen-enriched product from said second vessel; repeating said previous steps until a predetermined pressure is achieved in said second vessel; and purging any remaining volume of said oxygen-enriched product from said first vessel through said adsorbent bed and an air storage vessel upon shutdown.