Adding moisture to oxygen

[Gary0747]

Aviation oxygen is sold very dry to keep supply lines from freezing. I use it a lot on long trips even at lower altitudes to keep from getting tired but I find it drys out my nasal passages.  Does anybody rehydrate their oxygen?  Is there a way to do this and still use pulse oxygen systems?

[1964-M20E]

what about using a nebulizer to add moisture to the system.  Maybe one powered by 12VC or 28VDC.

[EricJ]

Neti pot?

 

[jaylw314]

If you're using an oxygen conserving system, you're only getting 250-500 cc per minute of O2, but you're breathing 2000 cc of air per minute.  It's not the O2 drying you out, it's the air.  Adding moisture to your supplemental oxygen won't make too much of a difference.  

a small amount of vaseline applied in the nostrils helps a little.  Assuming you're not too high up, you probably won't get too hypoxic taking a break for a minute to use a saline nasal spray.

[Hradec]

1 hour ago, jaylw314 said:

If you're using an oxygen conserving system, you're only getting 250-500 cc per minute of O2, but you're breathing 2000 cc of air per minute.  It's not the O2 drying you out, it's the air.  Adding moisture to your supplemental oxygen won't make too much of a difference.  

a small amount of vaseline applied in the nostrils helps a little.  Assuming you're not too high up, you probably won't get too hypoxic taking a break for a minute to use a saline nasal spray.

I've always been told never use petroleum products around oxygen(vaseline) beeswax  is the thing to use.

[GeeBee]

Vaseline is NOT what you want to use!

 

[201er]

I use an on demand rather than continuous flow cannula from Mountain High. It’s very stingy with the oxygen and just gives you a squirt as you inhale. Not only does that let you carry a lighter tank, it mostly solves the dry nose issue.

https://www.mhoxygen.com/product-category/portable-pulse-demand/o2d1/

[Paul_Havelka]

Any petroleum based product used with pure oxygen is a recipe for a fire. 

[rbridges]

12 minutes ago, Paul_Havelka said:

Any petroleum based product used with pure oxygen is a recipe for a fire. 

I had to google it, but it says vaseline isn't flammable.  Good point though.  I don't use oxygen so it didnt even cross my mind.

[neilpilot]

16 minutes ago, rbridges said:

I had to google it, but it says vaseline isn't flammable.  Good point though.  I don't use oxygen so it didnt even cross my mind.

Flammability rating reflects the propensity of a material to burn under normal conditions, i.e. ~21% O2.  While Vaseline isn't flammable, it can easily burn in an elevated O2 environment.  

[rbridges]

15 minutes ago, neilpilot said:

Flammability rating reflects the propensity of a material to burn under normal conditions, i.e. ~21% O2.  While Vaseline isn't flammable, it can easily burn in an elevated O2 environment.  

I saw that, and at higher temps it burns.  I use vaseline to help me breathe at night, and I never thought about it being flammable even though the word "petroleum" is in it.  

[neilpilot]

16 minutes ago, rbridges said:

I saw that, and at higher temps it burns. 

Temperature isn't the issue so much as O2 concentration.  There are many common items that, while not flammable, can readily burn or even explode if exposed to high O2 concentrations. 

 

[Paul_Havelka]

What @neilpilotsaid. Welders all know this from hooking up oxygen bottles for their cutting torches. The SDS sheet for petroleum jelly will show flammability at 21% O2. When that O2 concentration becomes 100%, or very close to it, then pretty much anything known to man will burn.

[jaylw314]

4 hours ago, GeeBee said:

Vaseline is NOT what you want to use!

 

My bad, you're right.  I don't think it's an issue with our low flow rates (most medical conditions need at least 2 L/min of O2 by NC), but I believe we use surgical lube for people with supplemental oxygen.

Although the number of people who still smoke with supplemental oxygen puts the fire risk from vaseline in perspective 

Edited November 10, 2020 by jaylw314

[neilpilot]

1 hour ago, jaylw314 said:

Although the number of people who still smoke with supplemental oxygen puts the fire risk from vaseline in perspective

Of course, while O2 obviously promotes combustion it doesn't burn. 

[jaylw314]

26 minutes ago, neilpilot said:

Of course, while O2 obviously promotes combustion it doesn't burn. 

No, but the tubing does!

[thinwing]

the answer to question is no.You cannot ad water to o2 source(bottle)

[carusoam]

15 hours ago, rbridges said:

I had to google it, but it says vaseline isn't flammable.  Good point though.  I don't use oxygen so it didnt even cross my mind.

Vaseline is an oil based product... O2 aids with the burning process...

I wouldn’t want to be the guy to try and prove them wrong... flaming nostrils?

https://www.oxygenconcentratorstore.com/blog/oxygen-therapy-myth-busters/

Oxygen has a way of starting fires with things that are not all that flammable...

PP thoughts only, not a pyromaniac....

Best regards,

-a-

[201Mooniac]

I don't know if it is a true story or apocryphal but Dr. Bob Achtel once told me that he had to put out a small fire when his wife Rikki's lipstick (which he didn't know was petroleum based) ignited while using O2.  Scary stuff to think about.

[carusoam]

When O2 and petroleum products get together.... no spark is required...

The energy of ignition is available at room temperature... so no additional flame or spark is needed.

O2 is just that good of an oxidizer...

PP thoughts only, not a chemist...

Best regards,

-a-

[N201MKTurbo]

There is plenty of advice on the web about oxygen use and Vaseline, what I can't find is any evidence of it actually happening.

But then again you are playing with fire and nobody wants a fire in their airplane, much less their nose.

[EricJ]

7 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

There is plenty of advice on the web about oxygen use and Vaseline, what I can't find is any evidence of it actually happening.

But then again you are playing with fire and nobody wants a fire in their airplane, much less their nose.

The usual advice with an intake fire during startup is to keep cranking, so I'm guessing by extension one should take a deep breath and see if it goes out.



Nobody seems to have liked my neti pot idea, either, though.  

[N201MKTurbo]

16 minutes ago, EricJ said:

The usual advice with an intake fire during startup is to keep cranking, so I'm guessing by extension one should take a deep breath and see if it goes out.



Nobody seems to have liked my neti pot idea, either, though.  

I would suggest the opposite. if you have a nose fire, you should exhale through your nose. The exhaled air is oxygen deficient and will extinguish the flame. Inhaling will bring oxygen rich air into the fire.

[Hank]

15 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I would suggest the opposite. if you have a nose fire, you should exhale through your nose. The exhaled air is oxygen deficient and will extinguish the flame. Inhaling will bring oxygen rich air into the fire.

And hot air into your sinuses and lungs . . . .

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I would suggest the opposite. if you have a nose fire, you should exhale through your nose. The exhaled air is oxygen deficient and will extinguish the flame. Inhaling will bring oxygen rich air into the fire.

But then you have two things to remember, since it's now different between an intake fire and a nose fire.   The usual solution for this is an acronym or other memory device, so I'll suggest the handy, "Engine Fires Suck, Nose Fires Blow".