This is a form of our contribution in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-run electricity company PT PLN (Persero) is capable of producing 2,654 tubes of medical oxygen yearly through its Gas and Steam Generated Power Plant (PLTGU) in Priok, North Jakarta.

The company has started to process exhaust gas into oxygen when the country was hit by a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused oxygen scarcity at several hospitals.

"This is a form of our contribution to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic," PLN's Director of Human Resources Management, Syofvi Felienty Roekman, noted in a statement here on Friday.

Roekman remarked that the company will continue to produce oxygen even after the pandemic ends based on the fact that oxygen supply was crucial in hospitals.

The project to process exhaust gas into oxygen is planned to be conducted not only in Java and Bali but also at all PLTGUs across the country.

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PLN is currently conducting a trial to process exhaust gas into oxygen at the Steam Generated Power Plant (PLTU) in Lontar, Banten, Roekman revealed.

"We are working on (the trial) in Sumatra, and not only the PLTGU but also PLTU Lontar can produce oxygen," she explained.

President Director of Indonesia Power, a subsidiary of PT PLN, Ahsin Sidqi explained that medical oxygen was obtained through the extraction of hydrogen compounds produced by the hydrogen generator plant.


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The device also functions to produce hydrogen gas used to cool electrical generators.

In its operation, the power plant only requires hydrogen gas to cool its generators, while the oxygen element is discharged into the air, Sidqi stated.

The oxygen discharged has a purity of 99 percent, but it has a high level of carbon monoxide that is harmful to humans.


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Indonesia Power that manages PLTGU Priok has developed an oxygen utilization facility to filter out gas and other impurities, so that the wasted oxygen can be used safely for humans, he stated.

A test conducted at the Jakarta Health Facility Safety Center (BPFK) indicated that the oxygen product had a purity of 99.9 percent and level of other impurities aligned with the medical gas standards.

PLN also produces oxygen at 19 power plants managed by two of its subsidiaries -- Indonesia Power and Java-Bali Generation -- with a total oxygen production potential reaching two million tons per day.

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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Sri Haryati
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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