In the metallurgical industry, high-purity oxygen is blown during the steelmaking process, which reacts with carbon, phosphorus, sulfur, silicon, and other oxidizing agents. This not only reduces the carbon content of the steel, but also helps to remove impurities such as phosphorus, sulfur, and silicon. Moreover, the heat generated during the oxidation process is sufficient to maintain the temperature required for steelmaking. Therefore, blowing oxygen not only shortens the smelting time, but also improves the quality of steel. During blast furnace ironmaking, increasing the oxygen concentration in the blast can reduce the coke ratio and increase production. In non-ferrous metal smelting, using oxygen enrichment can also shorten smelting time and increase production.

Oxygen detectors with different levels of oxygen can have different effects on the human body. The specific data is as follows:

23.5% oxygen rich, with strong explosion hazard

20.9% oxygen concentration is normal

19.5% oxygen low allowable concentration

15-19% decrease in work efficiency and can lead to problems with the head, lungs, and circulatory system

10-12% shortness of breath, loss of judgment, purple lips

8-10% intellectual loss, fainting, unconsciousness, pale complexion, purple lips, nausea and vomiting

6-8% 8 minutes

10% fatal/6 minutes

15% fatal/4-5 minutes can be treated*

4-6% convulsions, respiratory arrest, and death within 40 seconds

Based on the above data, a typical oxygen detector is equipped with a low alarm of 19.5% (oxygen deficiency alarm) and a high alarm point (oxygen enrichment alarm) of 22% or 23.5%. For oxygen, the first level alarm is an oxygen enrichment alarm, and the second level alarm is a low oxygen alarm. For toxic or flammable gases, the first level alarm concentration is relatively low, while the second level alarm concentration is high.