Steelmakers produce 3,474 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen on Saturday

Public and private sector steel companies on Saturday produced 3,474 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO). The total daily oxygen production capacity of 33 oxygen plants is 2,834 metric tonnes, of which 29 plants are tapped regularly, according to a steel ministry statement.

This higher LMO production capacity is because most units have reduced the production of Nitrogen and Argon and only producing liquid medical oxygen. About 2,894 tonnes were dispatched to different states on April 24 by steel plants in the public and private sector as against 1,500-1,700 tonnes per day a week earlier, the ministry said.

Steel plants require gaseous oxygen, primarily for steel making and for oxygen enrichment in Blast Furnaces, apart from some general purposes like lancing and gas cutting. Hence Captive Oxygen Plants in Integrated Steel Plants are designed to produce primarily gaseous products of Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Argon and then routed through a Pressure Reduction & Management System (PRMS) to meet the process need at the desired pressure.

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Such plants can produce 5-6 per cent maximum Liquid Oxygen (LOX) at the peak capacity, which is a highly pure product compared to industrial oxygen. Plants can only optimise LOX production by sacrificing some gaseous oxygen and optimise process parameters, the statement said.

All-out efforts are being made to enhance the production of liquid oxygen and the dispensation the same, for which all oxygen plants whether in the private or public sector are working 24x7 and dispensing oxygen. Steel plants are also filling oxygen cylinders and supplying them to the states and hospitals, the steel ministry said.

The average delivery of liquid medical oxygen by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been raised to more than 800 tonnes per day. It delivered 1,150 tonnes of LMO on April 23 and 960 tonnes on April 24. The total liquid medical oxygen supplied from SAIL's integrated steel plants at Bhilai, Bokaro, Rourkela, Durgapur, and Burnpur from August 2020 onwards has been 39,647 tonnes.

Another public sector steel maker RINL (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd) had supplied 8,842 tonnes of LMO in FY21. This year, from April 13 till Sunday morning, more than 1,300 tonnes of medical oxygen has been dispatched, the ministry said.