This project is aimed at the development of a low-cost, portable system to provide oxygen in the home to patients with chronic lung and heart related diseases, e.g., COPD. This new in-home oxygen delivery system, based on ceramic technology, will improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of oxygen-dependent patients. The need for such a system is expected to grow significantly within the next several years, with the aging of the U.S. population. The development and commercialization of low-cost ceramic oxygen generation (COG) systems for in-home use has been hampered by the need for high operating temperatures of the ceramic electrolyte materials used in these systems. In this project, NexTech Materials, in collaboration with LoTEC, Inc., will use a novel process for preparing cerium oxide based ceramic electrolytes, which offer substantially lower operating temperatures and reduced system costs. The Phase I project will culminate with the fabrication and evaluation of a prototype monolithic COG module, based on LoTEC's patent-pending design. In Phase II, the powder synthesis and ceramic fabrication technology will be optimized and scaled up, and a full-scale manufacturing prototype COG system, based on LoTEC's innovative design, will be constructed.
The targeted application is a low-cost, portable oxygen delivery system for in-home use. Ceramic oxygen generation also can be applied to materials processing, chemicals production, welding, cockpit breathing for jets, commercial aircraft, medivacs, and mobile hospitals. The ceramic technology to be developed also can be applied to fuel cells providing efficient power for a range of transportation, residential, industrial, and military uses.
