# pWhat's the percentage of oxygen from a home oxygen concentrator...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pwhats-the-percentage-of-oxygen-from-a-home-oxygen-concentrator/473908>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 21, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pwhats-the-percentage-of-oxygen-from-a-home-oxygen-concentrator/473908 "2008-11-21T21:10:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pwhats-the-percentage-of-oxygen-from-a-home-oxygen-concentrator/473908/1 "2008-11-21T21:10:59Z")

</div>

compared to a tank of oxygen for a patient to breathe.

I don’t know how to frame the question properly, but I’m wondering, over a given time period, how much O2 would I inhale from a run of the mill concentrator, compared to what I’d get from an O2 tank.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pwhats-the-percentage-of-oxygen-from-a-home-oxygen-concentrator/473908/2 "2008-11-22T00:57:43Z")

</div>

The ones I’ve had experience with generate around 90% oxygen. It depends on how many liters/min they’re asked to pump out, and what their capacity is. I’ve seen bigger ones handle small amounts like 1-2L/min at 95%, and concentration degrading the more capacity is asked of it.

My grandmother had a 5L/min machine that operated at 1, 1.5, and 2 (depending on how much she needed it) for 2 years, very dependably.

The ones I’ve used in the veterinary industry have also been very dependable.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pwhats-the-percentage-of-oxygen-from-a-home-oxygen-concentrator/473908/3 "2008-11-22T01:14:00Z")

</div>

I should have mentioned I do 2 Liters/min.

So, does a tank deliver close to 100% oxygen?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pwhats-the-percentage-of-oxygen-from-a-home-oxygen-concentrator/473908/4 "2008-11-22T05:02:36Z")

</div>

> [@BarnOwl](#):
>
> So, does a tank deliver close to 100% oxygen?

I used to work as a biomedical technician, and the best you can really hope to get is 95%. It has to do with the material used to “concentrate” the oxygen. In a nutshell, the concentrator is full of a material that absorbs nitrogen. Even if you could remove all of the nitrogen from the air, you would still have over 1% of “other stuff” (mostly Argon, and some CO2.) However, the other 4% is still nitrogen, but that last 4% is much harder to remove that the previous ~66%, due to “diminishing returns,” and all that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pwhats-the-percentage-of-oxygen-from-a-home-oxygen-concentrator/473908/5 "2008-11-22T13:15:45Z")

</div>

Thanks one and all.