Oxygen enrichment of indoor human environments

Abstract

This invention provides systems and methods of supplying oxygen-enriched air to an enclosed space or compartment. The systems and methods may distill oxygen from ambient air by a molecular sieve pressure cycle mechanism, such as a pressure swing absorption, may generate oxygen from water using electricity or may use oxygen enriched air produced by membrane filtration. The invention helps people improve their wellness, productivity and comfort, improve performance of mental and / or physical tasks, increase their alertness, quality of life and pleasure, reduce their drowsiness, and aid in curing and preventing disease by increasing the percentage of oxygen in the enclosed space to a beneficial and safe level.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 394,624, filed Mar. 21, 2003, which is a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 305,297, filed Nov. 26, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,558. These references are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to systems and methods for supplying oxygen enriched air to an enclosed space and generally controlling air quality and composition. The systems and methods may distill oxygen from ambient air by a molecular sieve pressure cycle mechanism, may generate oxygen from water using electricity or may use oxygen enriched air produced by membrane filtration. They may also remove unwanted gases or contaminants to maintain desirable air quality. The system may include a sensor and regulator for controlling or regulating the oxygen or oxygen-enriched air to maintain the oxygen content of the air in the enclosed space within an optimum rang...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012] The present invention includes an oxygen-enrichment system, the system may include oxygen distilled from ambient air using a molecular sieve pressure cycle mechanism fed into the enclosed space, may include an electrolyzing system for evolving gaseous oxygen from water and feeding the oxygen into the enclosed space, may use oxygen from a storage tank or tanks adjoining the enclosed space, or may include a membrane system to produce oxygen-enriched air which is fed into the enclosed space. The invention may include a sensor and regulator that detects the oxygen content of the air in the enclosed space and controls the oxygen supply to regulate the oxygen flow into the enclosed space. The system can be set to flow oxygen-enriched air into the enclosed space if the percent of oxygen in the enclosed space falls to or below a pre-selected value and shut off the supply of oxygen-enriched air when the oxygen content rises to a pre-selected value. The system may include a diluter to reduce the concentration of the oxygen that is supplied into the enclosed space.

[0013] The optimum percent of oxygen in the enclosed space for increasing alertness, improving productivity and comfort, reducing drowsiness, and increasing overall well-being need be only a few percent above the percent of oxygen in ambient air. It is believed that raising the percent oxygen to a range of about 25-40% by volume can substantially increase the alertness, productivity, comfort and overall well being of people breathing the air. It is desirable to keep the oxygen content in the enclosed space from exceeding approximately 40% by volume to minimize a possible risk of fire hazard or oxygen toxicity in the enclosed space.

[0014] The system may further include a set of gas separators and filters to remove unwanted contaminants that may build up internally, so as to reduce or eliminate altogether the need to constantly replace and dilute the internal air with fresh outside air, and thus possibly also reduce the thermal load on the heating or cooling system.

[0015] This invention also provides a method for providing a small increase in the oxygen content of air in enclosed spaces using the disclosed systems. The invention provides a method that helps people increase their alertness, improve their productivity and comfort, reduce their drowsiness, improved metabolism and increase their overall well-being and prevent disease. It also provides a method of reducing the external thermal load on the heating or cooling system by minimizing the need to inject large amounts of outside air, thus reducing the required heating / cooling capacity and the energy consumption.

Problems solved by technology

There is little doubt that lower oxygen levels impair physical and mental function.

Humans are not very good at compensating for low or high oxygen levels by breathing more or less.

While this helps dilute internal contaminants, it represents an additional thermal load and in some cases may also introduce external pollution.

It also may dilute away desirable components of air whose concentration has been elevated, such as humidity or oxygen.