Where does your lab get its nitrogen? For decades, most groups had nitrogen cylinders trucked in, sometimes from great distances. The gas in those cylinders was most likely generated using fractional distillation of air, a large-scale, energy-hogging industrial process that is unsuited for labs or even large institutions.
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A study by the European Industrial Gases Association estimates that producing nitrogen through a lab generator uses 30 percent less electricity per volume at 99.9 percent purity than does a fractional distillation plant. For 98 percent pure nitrogen, the energy savings top 70 percent.
Which is why, faced with rising delivery and rental costs and the inconvenience of relying on tanks, many labs today generate their own nitrogen through either membrane-based systems or selfcontained pressure swing adsorption (PSA) units.
In a white paper on sustainable nitrogen generation, Parker-Hannifin (Cleveland, OH) adds to those energy savings figures the cost of delivering gas cylinders, which for far-flung laboratories can be substantial.
Parker also notes that nitrogen generators allow users to dial in the precise oxygen level they require. Setting oxygen levels precisely is particularly critical for controlled environment enclosures such as glove boxes or desiccators. Terra Universal (Fullerton, CA), for example, which is better known for glove boxes, laminar flow hoods, and biosafety cabinets, sells several models of nitrogen generators based on membrane technology. The company notes that maintenance is reduced because membrane-based generators have no moving parts.
Membrane-based generators separate compressed air through semipermeable, hollow-fiber membranes. Nitrogen passes through the membrane, while the oxygen and carbon dioxide are vented. It is possible to increase the purity of membrane-generated nitrogen from 95 percent to 99.5 percent by decreasing airflow into the system and raising the temperature.
PSA uses a combination of high- and low-pressure cycling and oxygen-absorbing molecular sieves to enrich nitrogen in air from a concentration of 78 percent to as high as 99. percent. In addition to use in laboratories, PSA is suitable for providing house nitrogen to plants and large facilities.
Selection of a laboratory nitrogen generation system comes down to purity and quantity of gas required, says Patrick McCloskey, sales manager at Compressed Gas Technologies (Troy, MI). “Lab managers should work backward from every application in the lab that requires nitrogen in order to determine the lab’s needs.” Both membrane and PSA systems can deliver high volumes of nitrogen at comparable operating costs and maintenance levels, but they differ in product purity.
McCloskey advises labs requiring 99.5 percent or higher purity to go for PSA. Those that can get by on lower-purity nitrogen should consider membrane-based generators. “Labs with both requirements will rarely install both types of systems,” he adds. “They’ll usually use the higher-purity PSA system exclusively.” Thus lab managers generally prefer PSA.
Most laboratory instruments perform more reliably with high-purity gases, and nitrogen is no exception. Although mass spectrometers are not particularly fussy with respect to nitrogen purity, their front-end separation systems, gas and liquid chromatographs, do require high-purity gases, as do many other instruments. It’s also prudent to specify high-purity nitrogen for oxygen-sensitive chemical and biological processes.
Operating costs for PSA are higher per volume of nitrogen generated than for membrane units. Some membrane systems, for example, run on house air pressure and do not use electricity for gas generation. The difference in energy consumption relates to the difficulty of removing oxygen down to levels of a tiny fraction of 1 percent.
“The higher the purity, the more it costs,” McCloskey says.
Generator maintenance is fairly straightforward, within the capabilities of most lab technicians as long as the lab has compressed house air. If not, labs need to add an integral air compressor, which complicates upkeep. “Those labs will typically get a service contract,” McCloskey says.
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Based on our most recent survey results, nitrogen gas generators are the second most common type in our reader’s labs. Here are some questions you may want to ask when deciding which gas generator or specialty gas is right for your lab.
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Working in a laboratory requires the utmost precision, cleanliness, and following strict procedural standards. Laboratories are crucial for performing scientific research, developing new products, conducting ground-breaking experiments, and manufacturing pharmaceutical and chemical products. Laboratory technicians and scientists are responsible for overseeing the safe operation of equipment and safe use of materials to prevent potential contamination from external sources and minimize health and safety risks.
Labs use onsite nitrogen gas for many processes and applications. Nitrogen gas is inert, which means that it’s completely inactive and can’t have a negative reaction if it comes into contact with other materials or gases.
Onsite nitrogen generators are preferable to having nitrogen tanks delivered in a laboratory setting where maintaining a sterile environment is absolutely crucial for safety and accuracy of the entire operation. Laboratories use nitrogen gas on a regular basis for atmospheric blanketing to eliminate the presence of oxygen in the environment. Although it’s necessary to live, oxygen is also a very reactive gas that can negatively react with other substances, compounds, and processes.
Furthermore, introducing nitrogen to a process can also help regulate temperatures and humidity levels that may affect the process or experiment. Certain chemicals, lab equipment, and instruments such as dry boxes and mass spectrometers are highly sensitive to hot and cold temperatures and humidity. They can only retain their functionality in specific environmental conditions. Nitrogen gas from an onsite nitrogen generator can help offset any negative ambient effects and maintain a safe and optimum environment at all times.
Controlled environments such as medical and science labs sometimes require minimal precise oxygen levels for specific applications. Depending on the procedure, application, and type of equipment in question, labs can choose between membrane nitrogen generators or PSA nitrogen generators.
For applications that require nitrogen purities of 98% or lower membrane nitrogen generators are typically used. They are ultra reliable as they have minimal moving parts. Dry compressed air passes through several polymeric hollow fibres to separate nitrogen from oxygen in ambient air. When compressed air passes through the membrane smaller oxygen molecules are separated out of the membrane while larger nitrogen molecules are retained in the gas stream. Operators can adjust the nitrogen purity levels from the standard 95% to as high as 99.9% by increasing or decreasing the amount of compressed air that flows through the membrane nitrogen generator.
Typical Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) nitrogen generators consist of two towers that are filled with carbon molecular sieve (CMS). As compressed air enters through the bottom of one tower and makes its way upward, oxygen and other trace gases are adsorbed into the CMS. The towers then switch and oxygen that has been accumulated in the cycle is purged back to atmosphere. Nitrogen gas purities as high as 99.% can efficiently be achieved with PSA type nitrogen generators.
Many lab operations rely on a consistent supply of nitrogen gas at specific purity levels. The nitrogen is required to maintain the integrity of their experiments and processes. Onsite nitrogen generators benefit labs by greatly lowering the cost of nitrogen gas supply and eliminating the risk of handling high pressure nitrogen cylinders or liquid nitrogen dewars. An onsite nitrogen generator also eliminates the risk of running out of nitrogen in the middle of an experiment.
It means no more having to wait on refills of nitrogen tanks or be at the mercy of nitrogen deliveries from the industrial gas companies.
Even at nitrogen purity requirements of 99.999+% the cost to produce nitrogen with an onsite nitrogen generator is much lower then buying nitrogen from your industrial gas supplier. In addition, you’re eliminating tank rental costs, tank handling and nitrogen delivery costs.
Last but not least, installing an onsite nitrogen generator for your laboratory can help reduce your facility’s carbon footprint since you no longer have to have nitrogen cylinders or dewars transported and delivered to your lab from other locations.
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