O2 gas boost pump

I need to boost O2 from cylinders up to 3000 psi for use in small 3K psi service rated tanks.

The O2 boost pumps I've seen on the net cost $5K+ for new ones. I've also seen pictures of "home brew" versions.

I'd appreciate any info on making one or locating a used one. Tks.

Reply to
John Morgan
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I used to transfill O2 tanks and it's not a home shop procedure.

Normal high pressure O2 is already at ~3000 psi (depending on temp) and you would use a cascade (a system of large tanks) to transfill to smaller ones. Cascades are not home built, they must be fabricated and installed by a licensed company. If you are planning to transfill to medical tanks, you should know that you will violating a lot of laws with severe penalties.

There are systems that allow for transfilling from a liquid O2 source, but in addtion to the $5,000 pump you will need a $5,000 heat exchanger, a $30,000 bottom feed liquid O2 dewar, and about $3,000 in plumbing. Not to mention a fireproof building, mandatory-by-federal-law fencing and installation. I can't think of single reason why you would want to do your own transfilling.

-Carl

Reply to
Carl Byrns

Aw go on, the heat exchanger is nothing more than a bunch of stainless steel tubing with fins on it, probably worth about 500 bucks. The dewar does not have to be bottom feed, you could use a transfer syphon stick. And the plumbing would be about a hundred bucks.

It would work fine - as long as the fabricator did not make any boo boos. Then it would only blow up.

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

How about a Haskell air operated nitrogen pump? they go up to 15,000 or so and I have seen them for 400.00 or 500.00

Reply to
Bill K

Yeah, OK.The O2 equipment I'm using for a benchmark is production line stuff- 72 portable and 24 'K' tanks a cycle.

I'm not so sure about the 'work fine' part- the operator would be on a steep learning curve and may not recognize a problem (like supercooled liquid not flashing over in the heat exchanger or having a circulating pump cavitate) before it's too late.

-Carl

Reply to
Carl Byrns

No, a Nitrogen pump is not pumping a super-oxidizer. It has to withstand lots of pressure, but it has no possibility of internal combustion, as long as you only put pure Nitrogen into it. If you put Oxygen into it, it will almost certainly explode, in a most violent way.

Admitting high pressure Oxygen into anything that is unclean (in the oxygen safety sense) is extremely dangerous. There are just reams of accident reports where one fitting was the wrong type, or contaminated, and it caused an explosion, or fire, or fatalities. This stuff is REALLY hazardous, and the explosions are the kind that develop with no warning or time to get away.

The compressor that started this thread is an oil-lubricated air compressor, and undoubtedly atomizes some oil that gets past the piston rings into the gas stream. In pure oxygen, the explosion this would cause is hard for me to imagine, but I'm sure it would dwarf any of the fireworks I saw last month!

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

Yep. Carl you need to fine tune the irony module there a bit.

I think this guy should get together with the compressed NG fellow and really make a bang.

Jim

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Reply to
jim rozen

Thanks for the offer - - but I'll pass!

I wasn't trying to be overly cryptic. O2 boost pumps are used by some glider FBO's to fill portable tanks. Some fire department have them to fill tanks used for rescue etc. There are a few examples of "homemade" boost systems on the web, most used for mixing O2 and other gasses for deep SCUBA diving. For safety reasons I'd rather get a proper pump that's designed for the purpose.

Reply to
John Morgan

Well, the compressor a poster pointed out on eBay specifically indicated it had an oil-filled crankcase. Unless it has bellows below the pistons to keep the oil strictly separated from the oxygen, there's no way it could work on Oxygen. Looking again at the eBay listing, I see, with HORROR, that the seller says it CAN be used with Oxygen! These are the old W. Kidde strut pumps from B-29 bombers, and most certainly are not dry pumps. And, the Chemlube 201 is not an oxygen-safe oil. Yikes!

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

Jon,

True. When I went to the ebay listing my eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. What a bargain! But as soon as I read it was not a dry pump . . .

Many of the commercial O2 boost pumps are compressed air driven. Essentially a big piston driving a small one with a couple of check valves and a cooling coil. No clue why they are so expensive, but I'm still looking.

Reply to
John Morgan

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