Posted by Q (198.64.206.92) on July 31, 2000 at 23:51:19:
In Reply to: O2 posted by Kat on July 31, 2000 at 17:37:18:
The tank is an "E" and is stamped 22 cubic feet @ 2015 PSI.
The tank has a lable that says, "Using aerox flowmeter and oxysaver cannula will last one user 46.7 hours @ 10,000' ASL and 23.3 hours @ 15,000' ASL. For two users, divide times in half." -- Well, duh!
The website (see main topic posting) contains data tables for other tank sizes and altitude settings, but they all seem really low, like in the 0.4 to 0.6 lpm range. The mask flow rates are just slightly higher than the cannula flow rates, but just barely.
The needle valve opens fully and pegs the flowmeter at 22,000' ASL, but this still has no meaning to me in terms of lpm. I would need a different flow meter to measure higher flow rates.
It feels like some O2 is being delivered, and if I place my fingers in the holes in the sides of the mask, the bag will inflate, more or less, but not fast enough to fill my lungs from the mask each breath.
I do not know how many liters of air my lungs hold, nor my normal breathing rate. I would suspect that any excess O2 being delivered would be wasted, so the trick then is to match the flow rate with the demand rate to optimize supply and effectiveness.