Two oxygen plants come to life in AP thanks to Indian Navy's efforts

Visakhapatnam: In a major boost to oxygen supply in Andhra Pradesh during the ongoing oxygen crisis, teams from the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam, repaired two major oxygen plants at Nellore and Shri Kalahasthi.

Following a request from the state administration, Eastern Naval Command airlifted the teams of specialists from the Naval Dockyard by naval Dornier Aircraft from Visakhapatnam. The teams successfully repaired the oxygen plants on Sunday morning by overhauling the compressors and replaced certain adapters and accessories which were manufactured in the Dockyard.

The Krishna Teja oxygen plant at Nellore is a big cryogenic plant capable of charging 400 Jumbo-type cylinders a day and has been non-functional for the past six years. The naval team undertook the repairs of the plant and managed to achieve the cryogenic temp of -186 degree Celsius and also achieve the requisite output oxygen pressure to charge bottles. The analysis of the output is 98% oxygen, zero per cent carbon monoxide and 0.01% carbon dioxide meeting the requirements of medical-grade oxygen.

Meanwhile, the oxygen plant at Shri Kalahasthi near Tirupati is a big plant based on VPSA technology and is capable of generating 16,000 litres per minute at 5 bar (direct feed to lines rather than charging). The naval team undertook repairs of the plant and achieved the requisite output proved for medical-grade oxygen by carrying out necessary adjustment of column and moisture absorption of the plant.

The naval team was led by Commander Dipayan who worked with the engineering teams of the Andhra Pradesh health department to repair the plants.