DIYbanter - View Single Post - Can welding Oxygen be used in place of medical oxygen?

jeff_wisnia[_2_]

wrote:
On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:46:10 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski"
wrote:

wrote

I buy lots of oxygen from the welding store and the label always says
USP grade. I have never seen any other kind. The answer is on the
label tho.

That is because the oxygen itself it USP grade. One difference I forgot to
mention. Filling procedure. You can fill a welding grade bottle by making
the connection, opening the valve, and filling. When filling medical
bottles, they must be emptied, hooked to a vacuum pump and evacuated, then
filled.

Welding grade can be used in many ways by many different people. You can
hook it to a manifold along with other gasses. If the cylinder pressure
drops below what other gas on that manifold it, it can be back-fed some of
the other gas and contaminated.

If it is labeled USP, it has to be medical grade or someone will be
sued. BTW if you go in the back of a hospital you will see "welding"
bottles hooked up to their system.
It is more expensive to have 2 types of oxygen at the welding store
than to just have one.
They have to watch contaminants, just for safety. In the presence of
pure oxygen, lots of things you think are pretty safe, become
explosive. Try some steel wool.

Fine steel wool will burn pretty darn well in air too.

About 25 years ago one of my toddlers managed to touch some fine steel
wool across the terminals of a 9 volt "transistor radio" battery which
set the steel wool ablaze. The kid wasn't harmed, but I had to replace a
kitchen floor vinyl tile. G

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.