Nitrox home fill station

[Steve Roquemore]

Looking to install a home nitrox fill station to fill approx. 30-50 steel 100's month with 36%. Any suggestions for sourcing is appreciated. Called brownies several times and no one there knows about their nitrox systems. Preference is membrane system to avoid o2 bottles at the home.

 

[ermaclob]

Don't know much about the topic when it comes to actual setup and sourcing of components. However, there is a private Facebook group called "Gas Blenders" that host about 7k people discussing such topics. i would suggest you check it out, someone on there might be able to assist.

 

[Wookie]

Looking to install a home nitrox fill station to fill approx. 30-50 steel 100's month with 36%. Any suggestions for sourcing is appreciated. Called brownies several times and no one there knows about their nitrox systems. Preference is membrane system to avoid o2 bottles at the home.

Brownies nitrox systems are made by Nitrox Technologies, inc. I have installed 4 of them. I think that they are superior to any other membrane, and also by far the most expensive. What would you like to know?

 

[Steve Roquemore]

Brownies nitrox systems are made by Nitrox Technologies, inc. I have installed 4 of them. I think that they are superior to any other membrane, and also by far the most expensive. What would you like to know?

I finally got through to brownies and he said his starting price is 50K and mostly does yachts and not land based.

 

[Wookie]

I finally got through to brownies and he said his starting price is 50K and mostly does yachts and not land based.

Yup. I paid $11,000 each for the first 3. But they are/were awesome. 2 are still working on liveaboard dive boats, installed since 1998, filling about 20,000 cylinders a year. One is in storage for one of those boats.

 

[Tracy]

Since you are blending 36%, I assume you want it for shallow dives.
A cheaper option is to use medical concentrators to feed your stick and basically make your own pressure swing absorption blending stick. You will have a higher than normal argon concentration, but at the shallow depths, the added narcotic effect won't be noticeable.

 

[100days-a-year]

Since you are blending 36%, I assume you want it for shallow dives.
A cheaper option is to use medical concentrators to feed your stick and basically make your own pressure swing absorption blending stick. You will have a higher than normal argon concentration, but at the shallow depths, the added narcotic effect won't be noticeable.

1. Aren't concentrators just automated molecular sieves?
2. What is the price per liter vs. a designed scuba membrane system?
3. How many LPM can you get a concentrator to flow? I only saw 10 LPM max for sale and at $1k each. Filling a 120 full from empty in 20 minutes to 32% would take a half dozen or more at that flow rate by my off the top of my head math.

 

[grf88]

.....

 

[Tracy]

1. Aren't concentrators just automated molecular sieves?
2. What is the price per liter vs. a designed scuba membrane system?
3. How many LPM can you get a concentrator to flow? I only saw 10 LPM max for sale and at $1k each. Filling a 120 full from empty in 20 minutes to 32% would take a half dozen or more at that flow rate by my off the top of my head math.

Most home medical concentrators will flow 5lpm constantly. Depending on your compressor size, you typically need 5-10 of them. I have never paid more than $300 for one. I buy them on Craiglist from people selling them after a loved one died. They aren't something I would purchase new.
I use bottled oxygen as it is cheap and readily available where I live. I built a system for a remote island dive shop last year with 11 concentrators. It is working well for them and was much cheaper than a scuba specific membrane.

 

[100days-a-year]

Thanks, I was asking because carrying O2 on a boat for multi day trips was always problematic. You either carry a lot of weight and use a lot of floorspace for Ts or cut back to leaner mixes or fewer dives with nitrox.
Most of the boats I was on used roughly 9cfm compressors so would need about 20-30 LPM by my math to get 28 to 36%