L&T to assemble PSA oxygen units at Hazira plant

Surat: Engineering Major Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) has started assembling PSA oxygen generator units at its manufacturing facility at Hariza in Surat, to meet the demand of medical-grade oxygen at hospitals across India.
These PSA units absorb air from the atmosphere before converting it into medical-grade oxygen and pumping it into pre-existing pipes in the hospitals. The units work on the plug-and-play principle. Once all the constituent parts are fabricated, the compressor allows the air to reach a particular pressure within a few minutes.
L&T is sourcing the components from various parts of the world and assembling it at its Hazira manufacturing complex. After testing, the units will be dispatched to various hospitals where they will immediately start producing medical-grade oxygen as per the requirements. Each unit has a compressor, dryer, oxygen generator and two storage tanks that could cater to hospitals or medical facilities with over 1,750 beds.
The company in a statement on Wednesday said that it will soon deliver 22 oxygen generators to various hospitals in India, where the scarcity is most acute.
L&T CEO and MD, S N Subrahmanyan, said, “This is an unprecedented situation, and we are extremely pained by the consequences of the dire shortage of oxygen. Our teams in India and abroad have, with single-minded attention in the last few days, been able to procure the oxygen generators and other components to assemble PSA units. Together we shall all overcome the Covid-19 scourge.”
Each unit has a capacity ranging from 1,000 litres per minute (LPM) to 500 LPM. “A 1,000 LPM machine could service 100-plus beds simultaneously. The 500 LPM machine can potentially service 50-plus beds at any point of time,” said the company's statement.