Bringing a major boost to the oxygen supply, the Indian Navy on Sunday repaired two major oxygen generating plants at Andhra Pradesh's Nellore and Srikalahasti.

According to the Defence Ministry officials, teams from Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam acted swiftly on a request from the state administration and repaired the two oxygen plants. Eastern Naval Command airlifted the teams of specialists from Naval Dockyard by naval Dornier Aircraft from Visakhapatnam, who successfully repaired the oxygen plants today by overhauling the compressors and replacing certain adapters and accessories.

The Krishna Teja oxygen cryogenic plant at Nellore is capable of charging 400 Jumbo-type cylinders per day and has been non-functional for the past 6 years. Acting swiftly, the naval team undertook the repairs of the plant and managed to achieve the cryogenic temp of minus 186 degrees celsius along with requisite output oxygen pressure to charge bottles. The analysis of the output is 98 percent oxygen, 0 percent Carbon Monoxide, and 0.01 percent Carbon Dioxide meeting the requirements of medical oxygen.

Meanwhile, the oxygen plant at Srikalahasti, Tirupati is a big plant, based on VPSA technology and is capable of generating 16,000 liters 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 over 93 per cent, 0 percent carbon monoxide, and 0.02 per cent carbon dioxide by carrying out necessary adjustment of column and moisture absorption of the plant.

The restoration of both plants was done by the team of specialists from Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam, who worked tirelessly for almost 7 days along with the engineering teams of the state’s health department.