Oxygen plant installation at NHAK completed

Our Correspondent
Kohima, May 11 (EMN): The installation of the much-needed pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plant at Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) has been completed and it will be “ready to use” once the samples sent for certification on Tuesday return from a government-approved laboratory based in New Delhi.

Nilanjan Choudhury, service engineer from Absstem Technologies, who was working at the installation site, confirmed this to Eastern Mirror on Tuesday.

“The oxygen generation plant is ready to use but we are waiting for the lab report,” he informed.

The samples have been sent to the national capital to be analysed for human consumption.

“We have sent the samples on Tuesday morning,” Choudhury informed, adding that they are expecting to receive the lab report from the authorities in Delhi within two days.

He also informed that after completing the installation of oxygen plant at District Hospital Dimapur, which is in progress, they would be ‘moving to Mokokchung’ for setting up a similar facility.

The oxygen plant has the capacity to produce 300 litres of oxygen per minute, or 18,000 litres per hour.

Unlike oxygen boosters which are meant for oxygen cylinder refilling systems, this oxygen plant will be directly connected to patients’ beds.

The components of an oxygen generation plant consist of compressors and storage tanks — two each — and an air dryer, air receiver and one oxygen generator.

Choudhury said that the three oxygen plants from Absstem Technologies are for Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung districts. The projects have been taken up under the PM Cares Fund.

Meanwhile, a reliable source has informed that equipment for the oxygen plant in Kiphire had arrived on Monday and that it would take about a month before becoming operational. Phone calls made by this newspaper to the Health minister and health officials to confirm the same went unanswered.

It may be mentioned that health officials had earlier stated that the remaining eight district hospitals across the state would also get an oxygen plant each- six to be set up by the United Nations Children’s Fund and two by the United Nations Development Programme.