Design And Development Of Modular Oxygen Concentrator Control System

Oxygen concentrators play an important role in providing continuous oxygen supply. In medical applications, they are essential equipment for patients with respiratory diseases; in emergency rescue scenarios, oxygen concentrators can save lives. Traditional oxygen concentrator control systems often have limitations in flexibility and scalability, and modular design methods can effectively solve these problems.

1. System structure design
1.1 Overall structure of oxygen concentrator system
The 40L oxygen concentrator system studied in this paper is installed in the vehicle and adopts a 1 master 4 slave structure, that is, it consists of 1 main control module and 4 sub-control modules. The on-board microcontroller communicates with the main control module through the 485 bus and can read the operating parameters of the oxygen concentrator system in real time. Six buttons are set in the on-board transfer cabin, and the operator can issue power-on instructions to the main control module through these buttons.
1.2 Control system hardware design
Both the main control board and the sub-control board use AC 220V as the power supply. The DC components on the board require different voltage levels, such as 24V, 12V, 5V and 3.3V. The AC power is converted to DC 24V through LHE20-20B24 after passing through the fuse. Subsequently, TPS5430 is used to convert 24V to 12V, K7805 to convert 12V to 5V, and AMS1117 - 3.3 to convert 5V to 3.3V. The main control chip of the circuit board is STM32F103C8T6, which is a 32-bit microcontroller with a program memory capacity of 64KB. It has a wide operating temperature range from -40°C to 85°C and supports multiple communication interfaces and debugging methods.
The digital output (DO) control of the circuit board mainly adopts ULN2003 chip. This integrated Darlington tube integrated circuit can amplify the driving current of the controller so that it can directly drive relays and solenoid valves. The pressure sensor (model XGZP6847) and the temperature sensor (model NTC3950 - 10K) are used to collect relevant environmental parameters, which are then transmitted to the microcontroller for processing.

2. Software Design
2.1 Main Control Module
The main control module is responsible for detecting the number of button presses. When a button is pressed, it starts the corresponding oxygen concentrator. If 4 or more buttons are pressed, 4 oxygen concentrators will start at the same time. It also has the function of giving priority to starting the oxygen concentrator with a shorter running time and shutting down the oxygen concentrator with a longer running time. Through the internal 485 bus, it can remotely control the sub-control module and read its operating data, which is then stored in the memory of the main control module. The on-board microcontroller can communicate with the main control module based on the ModbusRTU protocol to transmit the operating parameters of the entire 40L oxygen concentrator system to the on-board system.
2.2 Sub-control module
The sub-control module is designed to control the specific oxygen production process of each oxygen concentrator. It has digital output control points for components such as air compressors, fans and solenoid valves. It can collect sensor information such as temperature, pressure and oxygen concentration, and perform interlocks and alarms in time. It is also equipped with a human-machine interface (HMI) for local or remote observation of the operating status of the oxygen concentrator. Operators can set operating parameters and view real-time data through the human-machine interface. In addition, it communicates with the main control module through the 485 interface based on the ModbusRTU protocol.

3. Advantages and applications of modular design
3.1 Advantages
The modular design makes the system highly flexible. Each sub-control module can be maintained and upgraded independently, which improves the maintainability of the system. If one sub-control module fails, the other modules can still operate normally to ensure the continuous supply of oxygen. In addition, the modular structure is easy to expand. If a larger oxygen production capacity is required in the future, additional sub-control modules can be added.
3.2 Applications
Currently, the 40L oxygen generator system has been applied to negative pressure isolation transport vehicles. Through the collaborative work of the on-board microcontroller and the main control module, the system can realize real-time monitoring of oxygen production data. The intelligent arrangement of the start and stop of each oxygen generator ensures the consistency of equipment requirements and the normal operation of each oxygen production process.

4. NEWTEK Industrial : leader in innovation of gas system solutions
As a high-tech enterprise with 36 years of experience in gas separation and preparation, NEWTEK Industrial has always been committed to "providing advanced and economical gas production systems to the world" and focuses on the design and manufacture of gas equipment such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon, acetylene and carbon dioxide. From on-site gas production equipment to large-scale air separation systems, the group has deployed more than 9,000 gas systems in more than 120 countries around the world, including more than 350 large-scale oxygen/nitrogen production equipment serving key areas such as medical emergency and industrial production, becoming a benchmark company in the industry with both technical depth and market influence.
Core advantages: technological innovation and full-chain capabilities
Cutting-edge technology matrix
With 1,000+ process patents, core products include PSA/VPSA oxygen and nitrogen production equipment, cryogenic air separation equipment, acetylene generation systems, etc. The original modular design shortens the equipment installation cycle by 40%, while supporting 99.999% ultra-high purity gas customization. For example, its medical-grade PSA oxygen production system uses a molecular sieve dynamic optimization algorithm, and the oxygen concentration is stable at 93%±3%. It has been adapted to more than 5,000 negative pressure ambulances and hospital central oxygen supply systems worldwide.
Full-scenario solution
From small-scale laboratory gas production equipment to industrial-grade projects, NEWTEK has built a full-chain service system covering "design-manufacturing-installation-operation and maintenance". In the semiconductor field, its nitrogen system provides high-purity nitrogen with a dew point below -70℃ for chip manufacturing; in wastewater treatment scenarios, the ozone generator combined with VPSA oxygen production technology increases the sewage treatment efficiency by more than 30%, and has been applied to 200+ municipal environmental protection projects.
Strict quality certification
The products have passed international certifications such as ISO 9001, ISO 13485 (medical grade), ISO 14001 and PED 97/23. Key components such as cryogenic heat exchangers and turbo compressors are made of aviation-grade materials to ensure that the equipment can operate stably in an environment of -196℃ to +80℃, with an average time between failures (MTBF) of 18,000 hours, far exceeding industry standards.
Sustainable development: technology empowers a green future
NEWTEK integrates environmental protection concepts into technological innovation. Its VPSA oxygen production system saves 75% energy compared to traditional cylinder oxygen supply, reducing carbon emissions by more than 120,000 tons per year; the cryogenic air separation unit adopts full heat recovery technology, and the energy utilization rate is increased to 92%. In the field of biogas, the group's integrated desulfurization and oxygen production solution has helped 15 biogas projects in Europe achieve carbon neutrality, becoming a model of green industrial gas solutions.
service: instant response and customized support
Relying on a 7×24-hour global technical network, NEWTEK provides customers with full-cycle services from free technical consultation to on-site operation and maintenance. In China, its Shanghai R&D center is equipped with 100+ professional engineers, who can respond to emergency needs within 48 hours and provide equipment life cycle cost optimization solutions - for example, after a medical customer adopted its modular oxygen production system, the cost of oxygen production was reduced by 60% and the equipment operation and maintenance efficiency was increased by 50%.
Future Vision
With the goal of "gas technology driving industrial innovation", NEWTEK is accelerating the layout of 5G remote operation and maintenance, digital twin simulation and other technologies to promote the upgrade of gas production systems to intelligent and unmanned. Whether it is "life oxygen" in medical emergency or "power gas" in industrial production, the group has always used innovation as a pen to write a new chapter of sustainable development in the field of global gas solutions.

5. Conclusion
The modular oxygen generator control system designed and developed in this paper successfully achieves the goals of automated operation and high reliability. At the hardware level, reasonable planning of power conversion and chip selection ensures stable power supply and main control function of the system; at the software level, the main control and sub-control modules have clear program logic and efficiently coordinate various oxygen production processes. The organic combination of the two enables the system to flexibly adapt to different scenarios such as medical treatment and emergency rescue.
With the continuous advancement of technology, the system has room for further optimization and expansion, such as deepening improvements in communication stability and precise control of oxygen production efficiency. It has broad application prospects and development potential in the fields of medical health protection, emergency rescue oxygen supply, etc., and is expected to provide more reliable and intelligent solutions for oxygen supply in related fields.