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This information is a little dated, but after DEMA 1997 (yup that's two years ago), I contacted every compressor/air station manufacturer or distributer I could find (about 12) to ask them what they thought about using an oxygen injection product, or even a membrane system on their machines. Only two officially said it was OK. (1) Rix, but only on the big 25 cfm machine, and (2) The company in Florida that makes the watercooled/underwater compressor. A few others said not only no but hell no. One contacted one of their distributers, instructed him not to respond to my request in writing, but to call me and tell me that they use their oil lubed machine with a membrane system all the time. Most firms did not respond at all. Personally, I don't think that we will see the catastrophic explosions and burning buildings like many predict we will. I do believe that running the 40% O2 through an oil lubed machine will cause maintenance problems (I hear it already is), and that overall gas quality may decrease. Another fear that I have has to do with the nature of some people. If you can push 40% O2 through your oil lubed machine, then 50% O2 is probably Ok too. After they try that for a while, they might push a little higher until they turn their compressor, filter system, or both into a pile of junk (even in this scenario, I don't think that big explosions and fires are likely, although they are very possible). So, the bottom line is, if your compressor is no longer under warranty or not under a service contract, and you aren't filling O2 clean tanks (if you don't have special filtration, you will contaminate O2 clean tanks with your "standard" filtered breathing gas), then go for it. Of course, it is a good idea to have an oxygen analyzer running continuously on the INLET of the compressor. This analyzer should have the capability to shut down the compressor if the O2 percentage goes too high. Catalyst Research has a unit that used to be called the MiniOx III, that has high/low alarms. With a little bit of electronics know-how (electronics technician or even hobbiest experience), this could be modified to drive a relay to stop the compressor and/or a solenoid valve to stop the oxygen flow. I hope this helps! Sincerely, C. Randy Bohrer, President Underwater Applications Corp http://www.geocities.com/~uwapplications -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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