|
Some time ago following discussion within the
Canberra Gliding Club re the relative merits of aviation dry breathing oxy and
medical oxy, I though it prudent to get the
correct info from BOC Gases Scientific Support Centre.
Advice was that there definitely are differences in specification. Moisture in aviators dry breathing EHP - Gas Code 430 is sold to a specification of 7 ppm and typical actual value is also 7 ppm. The figures for medical EP - gas Code 400 are specification of 67 ppm and typical actual value of 25 ppm. There are some other minor variations in the levels of impurities in these two grades of oxy but they are not significant. I'm not sure what temperature is required for the
different levels (7 ppm, 25 ppm and 67 ppm) to reach saturation point, but
perhaps that is worth pursuing by anyone considering using medical
oxy.
For my oxy needs, I rent a medical size C bottle
from BOC and, as Ron Sanders noted, the price is not all that high - currently
$73.56 for a 12 month rental. I am prepared to use the medical oxy up to
FL 180 but if venturing above that I have the option to refill the bottle
from the Club supplied dry breathing Code 430 oxy supply.
One other point you may like to consider is that
the regulation specifically lists only Code 420 and Code 430 dry breathing oxy
as approved for use in high altitude flight. Might be some insurance
implications if you had an oxy related incident.
Regards,
Graeme Rickert
|
_______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
