JSC "Naftan" has begun the production and shipment of oxygen for medical needs
We will help you breathe
Interestingly, this oil refining enterprise is starting close cooperation with the healthcare sector for the first time in its history. Previously, industrialists had never fulfilled medical orders. But now, the capabilities of their industrial base have come in very handy.
– Our enterprise has two sites where we produce oxygen for our own needs, as well as at the request of our partners – installers, builders, specialists from related industries, – says **Deputy General Director of the enterprise Sergey Evtushik**. – *Now both sites, at "Naftan" and "Polimir," have been switched to producing oxygen for medical needs. Undoubtedly, this required a lot of work to obtain the necessary permits, approvals, and other documentation, to take certain measures to improve product quality, and to acquire an additional number of cylinders. In the near future, we will equip our laboratory and be able to perform a full gas analysis on-site in accordance with current regulatory and technical requirements. In the meantime, we send some laboratory analyses for research to Minsk.*
A brief tour of the vast territory, and here we are at production facility No. 7 of the head enterprise. It is here that the nitrogen-oxygen unit is located, where the necessary gas is produced. Its capacity is about a ton of oxygen per day, but this is not the limit. The head of the unit, Evgeny Gukov, introduces us to the facility:
– The equipment is good and reliable. We take air from the coastal zone of the Western Dvina – this is about three kilometers from the enterprise. It is supplied to the unit through underground pipes. Why draw it from there? The atmosphere has a different ecology, a cleaner composition, and a less significant amount of impurities than in the industrial zone.
A Complex Technology
By the way, the process of separating air into fractions is a rather laborious and time-consuming procedure. Specialists explain that it takes at least 9–10 hours from intake to oxygen production. However, the unit operates continuously, so the time frame here is quite conditional.
It is a bit noisy in the workshop, and all personnel work in headphones. The control panel: here, using special monitors, operators control the technological process. If necessary, they intervene to adjust individual parameters. As a result of many technological cycles, oxygen is extracted from ordinary air. To do this, the air is first purified, then compressed 150 times, cooled to minus 180 degrees, and only then is it divided into nitrogen and oxygen. The yield of oxygen directly from the total mass is slightly more than 20 percent.
– We have already prepared about 300 cylinders for medical institutions. Each contains 8 kilograms, or 6 cubic meters of gaseous substance. The first batches are awaiting shipment, – says Igor Kranov, Deputy Head of Production Facility No. 7, showing the warehouse of finished products. – We understand how important this is for the country right now. Therefore, we plan to increase production volumes in the near future.
"Polymir" in Action
The employees of "Polymir" are also actively upgrading their facilities. To trace the path from air intake to the release of oxygen cylinders, we travel with the Head of Workshop No. 9, Dmitry Shved, to a point where huge, one-and-a-half-meter diameter air ducts emerge from the ground.
Our guide explains:
– We have two air intakes. One is on the lake shore, the other is in a pine forest. We use them alternately depending on the wind direction. The plant's nitrogen-oxygen station is mainly focused on nitrogen production according to the specifics of its operations. Nevertheless, we are quite capable of producing about 800 kilograms of oxygen per day for medical needs. This is approximately 70–100 cylinders. We have enough returnable containers – we specifically resumed the operation of the section for restoring old tanks. Do you see how beautiful they turn out? – he says, pointing to a neat row of freshly painted cylinders.
Interestingly, some of them are already 20–30 years old. But this is not so important. Before cosmetic repairs are carried out, each vessel undergoes rigorous strength tests and thorough cleaning – any nuances are excluded.
Elena Shiyanok monitors the filling of cylinders in the workshop. She explains: the temperature of each container must be monitored during this process. If it is slightly warm – everything is fine. But any fluctuations indicate poor filling and require immediate intervention.
– We understand how important supplies to medical institutions are today, – summarizes Sergey Evtushik. – In the family of every oil refiner, there are those who have recovered from coronavirus infection. Many have had COVID-19 themselves. We hope that the pandemic will recede soon. In the meantime, we are ready for close cooperation with the region's medical professionals. May our oxygen save the lives of those who need to receive it on time and in the required quantity today.
P.S. While the material was being prepared for publication, important news arrived: the first batches of oxygen from both OJSC "Naftan" and its industrial unit – the "Polimir" plant – have already been sent to the Novopolotsk Central City Hospital. Now, supplies will be carried out on a planned basis. From November 1, oil refiners promise to fully cover the needs of the medical institution. The oxygen, as noted by doctors, is good. The manufacturer provides a special certificate for each batch, confirming its quality.
Comment:
Mikhail Vishnevetsky, Head of the Main Department for Healthcare of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee:
– Until recently, we received oxygen from two supplier enterprises – from Orsha and from the Mogilev region. Naftan's contribution is very important for optimal logistics. We hope that this enterprise will soon fully take over the supply of the Novopolotsk Central City Hospital, whose infectious diseases department is inter-district. Currently, patients from other regions of the oblast are also being delivered to the intensive care unit of this hospital. As for the overall oxygen supply to our medical institutions – the situation is stable, supplies are carried out on a regular basis, there is a certain reserve. But considering that in recent weeks there has been both a seasonal increase in morbidity and a more severe course of coronavirus infection (an increase in the number of severe patients, the need for their long-term stay in intensive care), additional capacities will be in demand. Especially since the number of oxygen points is also growing – there are more than 1.5 thousand of them."SB"