Amid the spike in the demand for oxygen across the country due to the COVID-19, the Indian Army has stepped in several times over the last few weeks to ensure that the life-saving drug reaches the people.

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In order to quickly convert liquid oxygen to oxygen gas and ensure availability at the patients' bed, a special task force of Indian Army engineers under Maj Gen Sanjay Rihani undertook an initiative to ensure that oxygen is made available without the use of gas cylinders, thus obviating the need to refill them frequently. Over seven days, the team of Army engineers in direct consultation and material support from CSIR and DRDO put together a working solution using vaporisers, PRVs and liquid oxygen cylinders, a statement said.

"In order to ensure continuous conversion of liquid oxygen into oxygen gas at the requisite pressure and temperature at the COVID bed, the team used a self pressuring liquid oxygen cylinder of small capacity (250 litres) and processed it through a specially designed vaporiser and directly usable outlet pressure (4 Bar) with requisite leakproof pipeline and pressure valves", it read.

A prototype with two liquid cylinders capable of feeding oxygen gas for 40 beds for a period of two to three days has been made functional at Base Hospital in Delhi Cantt. The team has also tested a mobile version to cater to typical shifting requirements in hospitals. The system is economically viable and is safe to operate since it obviates high gas pressure in the pipeline or cylinders and does not require any power supply to operate. The system is capable of replication in a quick time frame.