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Here are some more information for Oxygen Analyzer:

Will I Need Oxygen Therapy?

Each year thousands of individuals in the United States are diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), especially cigarette smokers. Many of these individuals will be prescribed oxygen therapy by their physician. As the population of the United States continues to age, more and more people are going to be required to use supplemental oxygen. COPD has several common signs and symptoms to alert individuals that they may have a respiratory problem. Some of the most common COPD warning signs are:

* Dyspnea (shortness of breath)

* Chronic cough

* Wheezing

* Hemoptysis (coughing up blood)

* Ankle swelling

* Unexplained weight loss or weight gain

* Confusion, slurring of speech

* Increasing morning headaches

COPD is a disease that progresses slowly and causes many changes to occur in the lungs. Narrowing of the airways and damage to the lung tissue are common occurrences for COPD patients. As the disease worsens, the lungs performance deteriorates, requiring the need for supplemental oxygen to make up for what your lungs are no longer able to do. COPD related inflammation destroys tissue in the lungs which reduce transportation of oxygen to the cells of the lungs and the transportation of carbon dioxide back out of the cells. The inflammation makes it harder for blood to get into the lungs, lowering the oxygen levels in the blood, which may result in pulmonary hypertension. The symptoms of pulmonary hypertension are shortness of breath, dizziness and fatigue.

If you exhibit some or all of these symptoms, you should see your physician immediately. The primary method used for diagnosing COPD is called spirometry. This procedure is a simple breathing test that measures airflow out of the lungs. If the amount of air you breathe out (forced expiratory volume) is reduced, this is a common diagnosis of COPD. Another method used to test blood oxygen levels is using a blood gas syringe to draw blood from an artery and send the blood through an analyzer to determine the level of oxygen. Although effective, this is a much more invasive procedure than spirometry.

Many patients ask "Will oxygen therapy cure my COPD?" The answer is no. Receiving supplemental oxygen helps your damaged lungs to do what they can no longer manage on their own. Receiving oxygen does not remedy your underlying lung disease. Long-term oxygen therapy should improve your quality of life. You should experience less instances of shortness of breath and feel increased energy levels. Oxygen therapy may also improve mental clarity and kidney function that can be impaired by low levels of oxygen in the blood. The majority of COPD patients are former smokers. If you are a smoker and continue to smoke, you may not benefit much from oxygen therapy.

About the Author

About the Author - Chuck Jaymes is an indoor air quality professional for
Oxygen Concentrator and
offers reviews and information about
Inogen One Portable Oxygen Concentrators
for OscarAir, Inc.

Furnace Oxygen Test?

At work we use a Flue Gas Analyzer to test the oxygen level in our furnace when the burners are on high fire. The oxygen levels when firing at an 85% firing rate should be within 2-3% range. This equates to a 10-15% excess air range. I was just wondering if there is another way to test the oxygen level? Maybe by some equation?

Testing Oxygen in Flue Gas :
The pioneer of combustion efficiency testers is the Orsat analyzer, a chemical testing apparatus in which flue gases are mixed with a liquid reagent that changes volume as a result of the reaction. The apparatus displays the volume change accurately, providing an accurate indication of combustion efficiency. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other gases can be analyzed.

The Orsat analyzer is simple and accurate. A portable version is available at moderate price. However, the apparatus is built of delicate glass tubing and requires a fine touch. Modern testers are much more rugged and much easier to use, so the Orsat analyzer is now a museum piece.

A similar chemical approach is used by the vintage Bacharach “Fyrite” tester, which is compact and made of plastic. One version of this unit tests for oxygen, and a different version tests for carbon dioxide. They are shown in Figure 3. The “Fyrite” is less accurate than the Orsat, but it is rugged and fairly easy to operate. It is the least inexpensive of all combustion gas analyzers. You need to read a table to use this device. These testers require replacing their chemicals after a certain number of tests, and the chemicals have a limited storage life.

In recent years, electronic testers have become available for analyzing flue gases. Some typical units are shown in Figure 4. Most electronic testers use an electro-chemical cell as the gas sensing element. A different cell is required for each gas being measured.

The most common sensor used in oxygen testers is a zirconium oxide element that develops a voltage difference across two sides if there is a difference in oxygen concentration. The zirconium oxide element has the advantage that it can be exposed to flue gases for thousands of hours.

The rubber hose draws a flue gas sample through a liquid in the tester. A chemical reaction changes the liquid volume, revealing the amount of gas.

Electronic flue gas analyzers : These test for a variety of gases. Oxygen and carbon dioxide testers can calculate combustion efficiency directly.

The overwhelming advantage of electronic testers is that they provide an immediate and continuous readout simply by inserting a probe into the flue gases. This allows you to see the effect your of boiler adjustments immediately.

Some combustion efficiency testers avoid the need to use a table to calculate efficiency. They perform the efficiency calculation with a microcomputer and read out combustion efficiency directly. There is a potential for error with such testers because efficiency depends on the temperature of the inlet air as well as the temperature of the flue gas. Some testers use the temperature of the air surrounding the tester as the inlet air temperature. This introduces error because the air near the flue may be much warmer than the air entering the boiler. Better testers provide a separate remote thermometer for measuring the air inlet temperature while you take the flue gas sample.

Electronic testers of good quality are substantially more expensive than chemical testers. Still, the price is small compared to the benefit of keeping boiler efficiency optimized (unless your boilers are very small). As with most electronic equipment, the quality of electronic flue gas analyzers varies widely. The best of the lot may be capable of better accuracy than the inexpensive chemical testers. The worst of the lot are incapable of providing useful accuracy.

A weakness of all electronic gas analyzers is that they must be re-calibrated frequently because the sensor output drifts. Fortunately, oxygen testers may be self-calibrating by using the oxygen content of the atmosphere as a calibration point. Testers for other gases require calibration using pre-mixed gases. Since the inner workings of these instruments are invisible, calibration is an act of faith in the calibration gases.

Most inexpensive electronic combustion analyzers do not measure carbon dioxide directly. Some units provide a carbon dioxide reading, but this is derived by internal calculation from the oxygen measurement. If you want to use a carbon dioxide test to check the oxygen test, a value that is calculated from the oxygen measurement is useless. Measure carbon dioxide with a separate instrument designed for that purpose

Headspace Analyzer measures headspace in wine bottles.
Using single bottles for analysis, Gaspace Micro Burgundy requires micro volumes of sample to obtain accurate oxygen analysis. Analyzer includes special needles for testing bottles with cork, synthetic cork, screw cap bottles, and metal closures. Tetra pack, bag in box, and other types of packages can be tested using flexible wand assembly. Equipped with built-in printer, instrument has full ...

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