CHAPTER 5
OXYGEN SUPPORT EQUIPMENT
Terminal Objective: Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to
describe safety precautions and procedures for handling liquid or gaseous
oxygen and its support equipment, describe liquid oxygen storage procedures,
and recognize contamination control procedures.
Oxygen systems on naval aircraft require
several types of support equipment to ensure their
safe and satisfactory operation. AMEs are
concerned with support equipment that is used for
storage and servicing of oxygen. In this chapter,
storage tanks and servicing equipment are
discussed.
As an AME it is your responsibility to know
and understand the safety precautions that are
involved when working with or handling liquid
or gaseous oxygen and its support equipment.
This information should not stop with just the
personnel of your rate, but it should be stressed
to all aviation maintenance personnel, so they
won’t mishandle or mistreat AME support equip-
ment. Examples include playing with valves of
service trailers, standing or sitting on trailers,
hauling tools and equipment on them, spilling oils
and other fluids on them, etc. Their awareness
will reduce the possibility of creating hazardous
conditions that could cause serious injury to
themselves or others.
Safety precautions applicable to this chapter
are covered throughout the text. Oxygen safety
precautions can also be found in NAVAIR
06-30-501, Technical Manual of Oxygen/Nitrogen
Cryogenic Systems.
LIQUID OXYGEN STORAGE
Learning Objective: Describe safety
precautions and handling procedures for
liquid oxygen storage tanks, transfer lines,
and valves.
Liquid oxygen (LOX) is centrally stored on
naval air stations for issue to users. Few Navy
requirements involve containers over 2,000
gallons. The design features and practices
described in this chapter apply generally to all sizes
of containers. The main emphasis is on tanks of
2,000 gallons and under. Figure 5-1 shows a
2,000-gallon-capacity storage tank.
TANKS
The tank is used for the storage of LOX at
low pressure, with low evaporation loss, and for
transferring of LOX to smaller containers, as
required.
All LOX storage tanks are basically similar,
regardless of their size or configuration, whether
they are skid mounted, trailer mounted, or
permanently installed. They all consist of an
Figure 5-1.—2,000-gallon-capacity liquid oxygen storage
tank.
5-1
