On Fri, 29 May 2015 20:53:19 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


wrote:

On Fri, 29 May 2015 20:32:12 -0400, micky
wrote:

On Thu, 28 May 2015 22:19:29 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 28 May 2015 18:32:38 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Saturday, June 19, 2010 at 6:25:46 AM UTC-7, AZ Nomad wrote:
On Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:40:35 -0500, Steve Barker wrote:
On 6/18/2010 8:58 PM, Some Guy wrote:
Is there any difference between a tank of welding oxygen vs medical
oxygen as far as purity, concentration, hazardous impurities, etc, that
would render welding oxygen insufficient (or even dangerous) for helping
to supplement breathing / respiration ?

it's the same.

no it isn't
It is not necessarily the Oxygen that is different but the tank. The tanks look the same on the outside but are markered different. Medical oxygen tanks are held to a higher standard than industrial oxygen. Medical tanks are "Oxygen clean" whereas welding tanks may not be as clean. Medical oxygen is also dryer to prevent rust in the tanks.
"Industrial" oxygen purity requirements CAN excede medical specs.
I have friends who recharge their high altitude flight oxygen bottles
from their welding oxygen tanks.

It seems to me all this depends on what the intended concentration is in
the first place. If one is 100% O2, or 98% and the other is 92%,
they're both still way higher than air. As long as the other 2% or 8%
isn't poisonous, if it's nitirogen with a little helium and a trace of
argon and a bit of xenon, it's going to work for breathing for sure, and
I would think it would work great for a torch. As long as their
both high, it doesnt' seem to matter which has a higher standard.

Though I think AZ may be right and there shouldn't be too much water in
the tank or your lungs may rust.

I have never seen oxygen at a welding store that wasn't medical rated
on the label. Perhaps if you are just swapping a little prestolite
tank it might not be but the 80s and larger I see have the medical
label on them.

Medical/aviator 99.95% purity
Welding 99.99% purity
Analytical 99.999% purity

All filled from the same liquid oxygen supply, only the analytical grade
gets extra attention.

Your world is very different from mine. I was
using medical oxygen that was just compressed air
filtered for pollens and moisture. No liquid
oxygen used, just regular air from the
environment. I was surprised that was all the
'oxygen' tanks held.