Portable Oxygen Tanks

Portable Oxygen Tanks are a practical option specially for moving about around the house, in the office or for short car trips.

Portable Oxygen Tanks:

Portable oxygen tanks used to be the standard issue in oxygen delivery systems. In fact for a time they were the only alternative that patients who required supplemental oxygen, could receive either at home or for their (at that time) limited mobility.

Portable oxygen tanks, as well as the other two types of portable oxygen equipment, are used for long term oxygen treatment.

These oxygen tanks store liquid oxygen. Oxygen changes from a gas state to a liquid state when it reaches a temperature of - 170 C (minus 170 degrees Celsius). It again converts into a gas when the oxygen temperature rises to -118 C. 

• An important aspect of liquid oxygen is that 1 liter of liquid oxygen has 860 times more oxygen than 1 liter of gas oxygen.  The implications are quite obvious from a storage point of view and from the stored oxygen duration side.

Advances in designs that have incorporated new materials as well as technical developments mean that a portable tank today is much easier to carry, to store, to recharge and will even deliver oxygen for longer periods of time.

Benefits of Portable Oxygen Tanks

Some of the benefits that have been enhanced with the new designs in portable oxygen tanks are:

Generally oxygen tanks refer to liquid oxygen containers and oxygen cylinders refer to compressed oxygen containers.  However common usage have made these terms, tanks and cylinders, interchangeable.

These two types of oxygen systems, liquid oxygen and compressed oxygen, have different characteristics.

Liquid Oxygen Tanks: 

Compressed Oxygen Cylinders: 

The final delivery of oxygen to the patient is basically the same whether stored as liquid or as gas.

The required amount of oxygen (as a gas) is delivered through a plastic hose to the nose so that the patient absorbs the oxygen by inhaling. The flow is regulated at a fixed rate. The patients receives his oxygen by means of a nose cannula (plastic hose that rests behind the ears and adjusts at the nostril) or via a face mask.

Most people who need supplemental oxygen will not depend on only one type of oxygen delivery system. It is more than lightly that they have a particular type of portable oxygen unit for some of their activities, and others for other types of activities. What is very important is that anyone on supplemental oxygen, be it for occasional use or full time, be prescribed professionally with additional oxygen.

The mobility that today's portable oxygen tanks bring has vastly improved patient's quality of life.

You should share and be open with your doctor or physician about the type of activities you have, so that they can help you define your optimum portable oxygen machine that fits in with your level of activities.