Liquid oxygen or Lox is the liquid form of oxygen gases. The liquid form of oxygen is extremely volatile and has a variety of industrial applications. Oxygen, or O2, which comprises 21 present of the earth's atmosphere, supports life and makes combustion possible. The most abundant of all elements on earth, oxygen comprises 85 percent of its oceans and, as a component of most rocks and minerals, 46 percent of its solid crust. In addition, it constitutes 60 present of the human body. Oxygen has numerous uses in steelmaking and other metals refining and fabrication processes, in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, petroleum processing, glass and ceramic manufacture, and pulp and paper manufacture. It is used for environmental protection in municipal and industrial effluent treatment plants and facilities.

Oxygen

Oxygen is used in diverse applications covering many industries, including:

• Steel Manufacturing To enrich air and increase combustion temperatures in the blast and open hearth furnaces; to raise steel temperatures and enhance recycling of scrap metal in electric arc furnaces and to replace coke as the combustible in steel making.
• Chemical Processing To alter the structure of feedstocks through oxidation, producing nitric acid, ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, vinyl chloride monomer and other building block chemicals; and to increase capacity and destruction efficiency of waste incinerators.
• Pulp and Paper To help manufacturers meet stringent environmental regulations in a variety of mill processes including delignification, bleaching, oxidative extraction, chemical recovery, white/black liquor oxidation and lime kiln enrichment.
• Metal Production To replace or enrich air, increasing combustion temperatures in ferrous and non-ferrous metals production; to create a hot flame in high-temperature welding torches used in cutting and welding.
• Metal Fabrication To support oxy-fuel cutting operations. Sometimes added in small quantities for shielding gases.
• Glass Manufacturing To enhance combustion in glass furnaces and forehearths, reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
• Petroleum Recovery and Refining To reduce viscosity and improve flow in oil and gas wells; to increase the capacity of fluid catalytic cracking plants as well as to facilitate the use of heavier feedstocks and to reduce sulfur emissions in refineries.
• Health Services To resuscitate or, in combination with other gases, to anesthetize but also essential to life-support systems used in emergencies or long-term treatment of patients with respiratory disorders.
• Utilities To convert coal to electricity for power generation.

About Medical Oxygen

In medicine, oxygen has a number of uses. It is sometimes offered therapeutically, to patients who are having difficulty breathing. It is also used in anesthesia mixtures, ensuring that the patient gets a consistent supply of oxygen while unconscious. Although pure oxygen is used medicinally and recreationally, as it brings about a state of mild euphoria, it is potentially dangerous. In high-pressure environments, oxygen toxicity can damage the lungs, often quite severely. Depending on the pressure, symptoms may emerge right away, or they may take several hours to manifest, at which point it can be too late.

Major Oxygen Applications

• Primary water treatment plant
• Water purifiers
• Civil wastewater treatment plant
• Multi-utility
• Plant for treating industrial (chemical, pharmaceutical, fabrics and leather, food, paper, petrochemicals and mining) waste
• Waste to energy plants
• Solid waste treatment plant
• Waste to Energy
• Steelmaking (from pig iron – blast furnace)
• Cast-iron production
• Steelmaking (from scrap – arc furnace)
• Secondary aluminium production (recycling)
• Lime production
• Cement production
• Milk and derivatives
• Bread and confectionery
• Meat and poultry
• Fish processing
• Coffee, wine and oil
• Fruit and vegetables
• Ready meals
• Catering
• Beverages
• Ice cream
• Glass container and fibre production
• Artistic glass production
• Steel Forging
• Refractory products production, marble
• Precious metal working
• Plate glass production
• Non-ferrous metal production (copper, lead, gold and bronze)
• Precision casting (e.g. lost wax, micro-fusion casting)
• Aluminium extrusion
• Tool working
• Aeronautical production
• Automotive
• Aluminium working
• Major building sites
• Carbon steel working
• Carpentry
• Shipyards
• Stainless steel working
• Nonferrous metal working
• Bulk pharmaceuticals
• Basic and organic chemistry, synthesised intermediates
• Polymers
• Fine chemistry
• Pharmaceutical specialities
• Oil refining
• Extraction
• Energy production
• Plant components and equipment