Health Sovereignty in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Design of a Sustainable Oxygen Plant Leveraging Local Atmospheric Resources

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed critical gaps in medical infrastructure in developing countries, particularly regarding the supply of medical-grade oxygen. In Ecuador, the highly centralized production in the Highlands and Coast regions creates a dangerous dependency for the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos. This study presents a comprehensive engineering design for an on-site oxygen generation plant with a capacity of 5 m3/h located in Lago Agrio. The project adopts a "health sovereignty" framework, focusing on the autonomous production of strategic medical supplies. Utilizing Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology, the design optimizes the extraction of oxygen from the local atmosphere, which empirical measurements show to have a 1% higher purity compared to the global average. The methodology integrates Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to align technical specifications with the needs of 13 regional health centers. Structural integrity and fluid dynamics were validated through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) using ANSYS and SOLIDWORKS. Results indicate a safety factor of 2.3 for the main pressure vessels under a working pressure of 12 bar. The proposed plant offers a 30% reduction in procurement costs and eliminates logistical risks, providing a scalable model for regional health resilience.