Walgreens-OptionCare > Respiratory > Services and equipment > Liquid oxygen systems

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Liquid oxygen systems are designed for home use. By taking gaseous oxygen and chilling it down to about 300 degrees below zero, we are able to make oxygen into a liquid form. The advantage of the liquid form of oxygen is that you can store more than 800 times as much liquid oxygen in the same space as gaseous oxygen. These units work by gradually letting some of the liquid oxygen warm up, turn to gas, and be used as a gas flowing from the main or portable unit. No electricity is required for these systems to work. The base units weigh more than 100 pounds and must be filled at the home with special equipment.

Liquid oxygen systems consist of two distinct pieces of equipment: One is simply a smaller version of the other. Since the liquid oxygen is so cold, the base unit in the home is really a very large insulated bottle (similar to a Thermos®). The portable unit is a small insulated bottle (similar to a Thermos®) that can be filled from the larger base unit. Usually, once a week a truck comes to the home to fill the base unit with liquid oxygen; then the user can use the oxygen at the liter flow prescribed by his or her physician. When the user needs to travel outside the home, he or she simply attaches the portable unit to the base unit to fill the portable with liquid oxygen. Portable units last two to three times longer than tanks and are about half the weight. A portable unit will weigh about 8 pounds when full and last about 8 hours at a flow of 2 liters per minute.