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Patna’s IGIMS to have 3 oxygen generation plants by AugBy Hindustan Times

The Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), an autonomous institution along the lines of AIIMS-Delhi, will be the state’s first medical college hospital to have an oxygen storage capacity of 60 kilo litres in addition to having three pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants.

Together, the three oxygen plants will have the capacity to generate up to 2,233 litres of oxygen per minute. These plants, along with the cryogenic liquid medical oxygen tanks, are expected to be commissioned by the end of August.

The institute allocated area to the National Highways Authority of India this Monday to set up two oxygen generation plants. The plants are being set up under the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation (PM-CARES) fund. Each plant will have a capacity to generate 1,000 litres per minute (LPM) oxygen, said Shailendra Kumar Singh, superintending engineer (biomedical), IGIMS.

The institute commissioned its first 233 LPM oxygen generation plant, facilitated through Patna MP and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on July 18.

“We have requested DRDO to expedite installation of the two oxygen generation plants. We expect them to be ready within a month,” said IGIMS director Dr NR Biswas.

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“Besides, one of the two cryogenic tanks of liquid medical oxygen (LMO), each having 20 kilo litre capacity, has been installed...We expect all oxygen related work to be complete within a month,” he added.

“One 20 kilo litre LMO tank is equivalent to 2,250 D-type cylinders, each having 7,000 litres (approx) oxygen. We will have three such tanks on our campus, in addition to three PSA oxygen generation plants, making us self-sufficient in medical oxygen,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, one tank each of 20 kilo litre LMO has also been set up at the Patna Medical College Hospital and the Nalanda Medical College Hospital, both in Patna. A health official said similar work will be taken up in Darbhanga Medical College Hospital after installation at the IGIMS.

While these hospitals will have two cryogenic LMO tanks each of 20 kilo litre storage capacity, the remaining six state-run medical colleges will have one such tank each. All these are expected to be commissioned by August.

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