# Oxygen receiver (buffer tank)

WHO's 2020 interim technical specifications for PSA plants (superseded in 2024) listed an oxygen tank (receiver/buffer tank) with a bacterial outlet filter, and a USAID RISE operating procedure for Indian hospitals describes the plant's oxygen, at 93% (±3%), being supplied to this buffer storage tank, which is connected to the pipeline.

AIGA 113/20, adopted from EIGA Doc 195, lists an oxygen 93 buffer with a pressure relief valve and a means of purging among the components of a typical oxygen 93 supply system, and says its capacity shall be designed for variations in pipeline demand at the concentrator output and also for short-term consumption peaks. Where a concentrator unit is a secondary source, the duration of its start-up is taken into account in sizing the buffer, and the buffer of a source in [standby](https://library.ultracontrolo.com/glossary/duty-standby/) must be permanently able to supply the nominal flow at the required pressure.

It is a different vessel from the air receiver, which sits on the compressed air side, before the adsorption towers. PATH and CHAI (July 2021) note that, depending on the manufacturer, a compressed air surge tank and/or an oxygen receiver tank may be required.

The [ULTRAOX SC](https://library.ultracontrolo.com/products/ultraox-sc/) and ULTRAOX ST basic configurations include one or more air tanks and one or more oxygen tanks, and the ULTRAOX datasheet (2022) describes the oxygen storage tank as of vertical construction, with a medical grade oxygen coating.

## Sources

- [WHO, Technical specifications for PSA oxygen plants, interim guidance (8 June 2020)](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-PSA_Specifications-2020.1)
- [AIGA 113/20, On site generation of oxygen 93% for medicinal use (adopted from EIGA Doc 195)](https://asiaiga.org/uploaded_docs/en_AIGA_113_20_Generation_of_Oxygen_93_for_Medicinal_Use.pdf)
- [USAID RISE, Standard Operating Procedures: PSA Plant Operations and Preventive Maintenance by the Facility Management](https://media.path.org/documents/SOP_on_PSA_Plant_USAID_RISE_04032022_F7fUBr6.pdf)
- [PATH and CHAI, Oxygen Generation and Storage: Pressure/Vacuum Swing Adsorption Plant (July 2021)](https://media.path.org/documents/O2_generation_and_storage_PSA_VSA_v1.pdf)
- [ULTRAOX SC datasheet, p. 2](https://www.ultracontrolo.com/products/ultraox)
- [ULTRAOX ST datasheet, p. 2](https://www.ultracontrolo.com/products/ultraox-st)
- [ULTRAOX datasheet (2022), p. 16](https://www.ultracontrolo.com/ultraox)
- [WHO, Technical specifications for health facility based medical oxygen systems (31 December 2024), note on the oxygen generator plant specification (supersedes the 2020 interim PSA specifications)](https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/ff437601-add3-44c8-8149-b85f0cdb2b52/content)

Reviewed: 2026-10-22. Ultra Controlo engineering. https://library.ultracontrolo.com/glossary/oxygen-receiver/