Apparatus and method for extracting oxygen from fluids

Abstract

An apparatus for extracting oxygen from an environment surrounding the apparatus, which comprises a container having an interior space isolated from physical contact with the environment at least in part by a gas permeable membrane having a first and a second side, wherein the membrane contacts the environment on the first side of the membrane, a carrier fluid in contact with the second side of the membrane in the first container, and a non-proteinaceous oxygen binding compound contained in the carrier fluid, wherein the compound comprises a tetradentate chelating molecule, a metal ion chelated in the molecule, and a nitrogenous base chelated to the metal ion, is disclosed along with a method for extracting oxygen from environmental fluids.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.