Nagaland gets its first oxygen generation plant

Installation of oxygen plant at District Hospital Dimapur completed

Our Correspondent
Kohima, May 14 (EMN): The pressure swing absorption (PSA) oxygen generation plant, which has been installed at the Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK), can now start producing medical oxygen as the laboratory that analysed the sample sent from the facility said that it is “fit for use” with 90-96% purity.

Nilanjan Choudhury, Service Engineer from Delhi-based Absstem Technologies, confirmed this to Eastern Mirror at around 8:40 pm on Friday night.

Fare Labs Private Limited, which analysed the sample, stated in its report that “tested sample of medical oxygen in confirming to IP 2018 Standard Quality and is fit for use for medical purposes”.

It added that the sample from NHAK was collected by its representative to assess oxygen quality; for which test started on May 13 and completed on the next day, May 14.

Officials had earlier informed that the oxygen plant at NHAK would be able to produce about 300 litres of oxygen litre per minute and 18,000 litres per hour.

Samples from Dimapur oxygen plant ready

The installation of oxygen generation plant at District Hospital Dimapur (DHD) has also been completed and samples have been collected to be sent to Delhi for certification, informed Choudhury, who is also involved in installing the facility at the hospital.

He told this newspaper that electrical-related works of the plant were completed on Thursday and ready to send samples for certification.

Dr. Keveduyi Theyo, Consultant of District Hospital Dimapur also confirmed about the completion of the much-awaited project, adding that the preliminary test results showed 95% percent oxygen purity.

He also informed that it may take about a week to get the samples results from Delhi, to ascertain if the oxygen produced at the facility is safe for human consumption.

‘We already checked the purity in our machine and found out that the purity percentage of the oxygen is good,’ Choudhury also said, adding that the purity was about 94.5 – 95 %, which is safe for human consumption.

He went on to inform that the team would be moving to Mokokchung district on Saturday to set up a similar facility in the district hospital.

No oxygen shortage at DHD

Meanwhile, Dr. Theyo informed that District Hospital Dimapur, which has been converted into Covid-19 hospital, “has enough of oxygen right now.”

He shared that the oxygen will flow into the manifolds through the oxygen plant once it is operational and that “every bed will have one oxygen outlet” where oxygen will be continuously supplied.

After the new facility is set up, the doctor said oxygen cylinders at the hospital would not be of much use except for contingency in the event of the oxygen plant developing a malfunction. The facility reduces a lot of manpower and the problems associated with oxygen like frequent changing of cylinders, he added.

The doctor said that even in the absence of an oxygen plant, patients at the hospital are been given life-supporting gas through jumbo cylinders which are available “all the time” with about five oxygen-supported beds.

He said that any possible shortage of oxygen will be solved once the plant, which is capable of producing 200 litre per minute (LPM), becomes operational.

Meanwhile, he stated that the number of Covid-19 patients admitted to the hospital per day is many as the daily recoveries and those who succumb to the disease.

It was informed that there were 67 Covid patients in the facility at the time of filing this report, but Theyo said there was a time when the hospital had 77 patients, which was the highest so far.