Types of oxygen regulators
1. single-stage oxygen regulators
2. two-stage oxygen regulators
1. single-stage oxygen regulators .
(1) figure 36 shows the design of a typical single-stage regulator. the regulator mechanism consists of a nozzle through which the high pressure gases pass, a valve seat to close off the nozzle, a diaphragm, and balancing springs. these are all enclosed in a suitable housing. pressure gages are provided to indicate the pressure in the cylinder or pipe line (inlet), as well as the working pressure (outlet). the inlet pressure gage, used to record cylinder pressures, is a high pressure gage, while the outlet pressure gage, used to record working pressure, is a low-pressure gage.
(2). the oxygen enters the regulator through the high pressure inlet connection and passes through a glass wool filter, which removes dust and dirt.. the seat closing off the nozzle is not raised
(3) the high-pressure gages on oxygen regulators are graduated in pounds per square inch from 0 to 3000 although oxygen cylinder pressures do not exceed 2000 pound per square inch. the high-pressure gages are also graduated in cubic feet from 0 to 220 for the range of pressures from 0 to 2000 pounds per square inch. this permits the direct reading of cylinder pressure and of the oxygen contend of the cylinders in cubic feet at these particular pressures. the gage are graduated to read correctly at a temperature of 70F. the working pressure gages for welding regulators are usually graduated in pound per square inch from 0 to50,from 0 to 200, 0 to 400.
2. two-stage oxygen regulators
the operation of the two-stage regulator is similar in principle to that of the single-stage regulator, the principal difference being that the total pressure drop takes place in two stages or steps, instead from cylinder pressure to one. in the high pressure stage, the sure. in the low pressure stage, the pressure is reduced from an intermediate pressure to a working pressure. a typical two stage regulator in shown in figure 37.
