Grant: Engage Plus Grants Program

Air pollution is a worldwide epidemic problem particularly in heavily populated megacities. As a result, there is a growing need to address the air quality using a lightweight and portable oxygen concentrator. In this proposal, the industry partner, CPAP Direct Inc. is directly involved in the field of oxygen concentrators for sleep apnea and other medical applications. CPAP is interested in expanding their markets into ""portable"" air concentrators by developing a product that produces 30-50% oxygen-enriched air, which is not medical grade. The main objective of the research project is to find a suitable zeolitic molecular sieve for the development of a lightweight non-medical grade portable oxygen concentrator. A proper zeolitic molecular sieve working based on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technique has been identified proven effective in the Engage Grant. This system is capable of producing a 30-50% oxygen-enriched air stream with a flow rate of 2 l/min in a continuous mode. In the next phase of the project, CPAP Direct would continue its support and collaboration with our team to investigate and validate the performance of the selected zeolitic molecular sieves under environmental conditions, and construct a portable oxygen concentrator as a new product. A bench-scale automated PSA setup capable of simulating the actual oxygen concentrator unit under accelerated testing conditions will be investigated in order to evaluate the lifetime of the selected adsorbent and the effect of air pollutants on the unit performance. Furthermore, the control system and the hardware components will be designed with the help of the engineering team of the industrial partner.