Method of providing ambulatory oxygen

1. A method of providing concentrated oxygen product gas to a patient, the method comprising:

producing product gas with an ambulatory oxygen separator using a vacuum swing adsorption process that includes:

(a) introducing ambient air into a first end of a column containing an adsorbent material that preferentially adsorbs nitrogen and removes oxygen-rich product gas out a second end of the column;

(b) evacuating the column through the first end to remove adsorbed gas from the column;

(c) repressurizing the column by introducing product gas into the second end of the column and ambient air into the first end of the column, wherein introducing product gas occurs during an initial portion of the repressurization;

(d) repeating steps (a)-(c);

pumping the product gas from the separator to a storage reservoir;

storing product gas produced by the vacuum swing absorption process in the reservoir of the ambulatory oxygen separator at a pressure of about 1.0 atm to 2.0 atm;

delivering a fluid to the patient consisting essentially of the product gas through a dispensing valve that regulates the amount of product gas delivered from the reservoir to the patient; and

controlling a cycle rate at which steps (a)-(c) are performed as a function of product gas delivered from the reservoir.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein delivering the fluid is from the reservoir to the patient.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein delivering the fluid occurs in response to inhalation by the patient.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the ambulatory oxygen separator is driven by a motor.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein controlling the cycle rate comprises:

sensing the product gas pressure in the reservoir; and

controlling the speed of the motor that determines the cycle rate.

6. A method of providing concentrated oxygen to a patient, the method comprising:

producing oxygen-rich product gas with an ambulatory oxygen separator using a vacuum swing adsorption process comprising:

(a) introducing ambient air into a first end of a column containing an adsorbent material that preferentially adsorbs nitrogen and removes oxygen-rich product gas out a second end of the column;

(b) evacuating the column through the first end to remove adsorbed gas from the column;

(c) repressurizing the column by introducing product gas into the second end of the column and ambient air into the first end of the column, wherein introducing product gas occurs during an initial portion of the repressurization prior to introducing ambient air;

(d) repeating steps (a)-(c);

pumping the product gas from the separator to a storage reservoir;

storing the product gas of the ambulatory oxygen separator at a pressure of about 1.0 atm to 2.0 atm;

delivering a fluid to the patient through a dispensing valve that regulates the flow of the fluid from the reservoir, the fluid consisting essentially of the stored product gas; and

controlling a cycle rate at which steps (a)-(c) are performed as a function of product gas delivered from the reservoir.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein delivering stored product gas comprises delivering a pulse of product gas to the patient in response to inhalation by the patient.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the ambulatory oxygen separator is driven by a motor.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein controlling the cycle rate comprises:

sensing the product gas pressure in the reservoir; and

controlling the speed of the motor that determines the cycle rate.

10. A method of providing concentrated oxygen product gas to a patient, the method comprising:

producing the product gas with an ambulatory oxygen separator utilizing a vacuum swing adsorption process, the process comprising the steps of:

(a) introducing ambient air at about 1.0 atmosphere (atm) into a first end of a column containing an LiLSX adsorbent material and removes product gas out a second end of the column;

(b) evacuating the column through the first end to a vacuum level within a range of about 0.1 atm to about 1.0 atm;

(c) repressurizing the column to about 1.0 atm by introducing product gas into the column through the second end and introducing ambient air into the column through the first end; and

(d) repeating steps (a)-(c);

pumping the product gas from the separator to a storage reservoir;

storing the product gas of the ambulatory oxygen separator at a pressure of about 1.0 atm to 2.0 atm;

delivering a fluid to the patient through a dispensing valve that regulates the flow of the fluid, the fluid consisting essentially of the stored product gas; and

controlling a cycle rate at which steps (a)-(c) are performed as a function of delivered from the reservoir to the patient.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein delivering stored product gas comprises delivering a pulse of product gas from the reservoir to the patient in response to an inhalation by the patient.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the ambulatory oxygen separator is driven by a motor.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein controlling the cycle rate comprises:

sensing the product gas pressure in the reservoir; and

controlling the speed of the motor that determines the cycle rate.