Potential cost savings with a nitrogen gas generator - Atlas Copco

A membrane nitrogen generator extracts the N₂ in the air supplied by a compressor so that it can be used for professional applications. The compressed air is pushed through a membrane filled with hollow fibers. Oxygen and water vapor dissipate through the fiber walls and are vented out. This leaves only the very dry nitrogen inside the fibers, pushed out on the other end of the membrane, ready for you to use.

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Another way of generating nitrogen is through Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA). PSA technology is the ideal and easiest method if you have an industry that requires very high purity levels. Pressure Swing Adsorption separates nitrogen molecules from oxygen molecules by trapping oxygen from the compressed air stream using adsorption. Adsorption takes place when molecules bind themselves to an adsorbent, in this case, the oxygen molecules attach to a carbon molecular sieve.

A nitrogen gas purifier is designed to enhance the purity of nitrogen generated on-site. It operates by taking lower-purity nitrogen from a generator and using a controlled hydrogen reaction to achieve a purity of 99.999% or higher. This two-stage process reduces the need for high feed air volumes, resulting in lower energy consumption and reduced emissions. Nitrogen purifiers are ideal for applications that demand very high purity, providing an efficient and reliable solution for on-site nitrogen production systems.

What is a Nitrogen Generator?

Nitrogen generators or nitrogen generation systems are machines that can separate nitrogen molecules from compressed air. These nitrogen gas generators or N2 generators are capable of purities of up to 99.999% at flow are required for your scientific equipment.

Peak Scientific's Nitrogen generators are used in laboratories all over the world to supply various analytical instruments with the most reliable nitrogen gas source. Our N2 gas generators can produce up to 99.999% pure nitrogen at the push of a button for your laboratory.

Nitrogen generation systems are still the most efficient way to supply instrument gas as, unlike gas cylinders, a nitrogen gas generator never runs out of gas and constantly supplies a consistent high purity of gas. Nitrogen, for those who don’t know, is an inert gas meaning it is not very reactive with other elements and chemicals. Nitrogen is highly abundant, accounting for around 78% of the earth’s atmosphere meaning we breathe in more nitrogen than any other element every day.

What is Nitrogen?

Nitrogen, for those who don’t know, is an inert gas meaning it is not very reactive with other elements and chemicals. Nitrogen is highly abundant, accounting for around 78% of the earth’s atmosphere meaning we breathe in more nitrogen than any other element every day.

Atomic number 7, discovered in by Daniel Rutherford, nitrogen is an inert gas meaning it is not very reactive with other elements and chemicals. Nitrogen is highly abundant, accounting for around 78% of the earth’s atmosphere meaning we breathe in more nitrogen than any other element every day.

Nitrogen use in the lab

Nitrogen gas has been used in laboratory analysis for decades. In the past, labs were required to have their nitrogen gas supply delivered in cylinders or in bottles from their closest nitrogen plant, which for some labs could take several days to deliver. These cylinders or bottles would then supply an LC-MS (Liquid Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer) instrument, or perhaps a detector in the case of GC (Gas Chromatograph), allowing the lab to carry out its analysis.

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Nitrogen generators in the lab

There is an alternative to nitrogen cylinders, this is an on-site nitrogen generator. A nitrogen generator not only removes the hassle of having to change over cylinders, it provides an uninterrupted supply of gas at a consistent purity. This consistency is generated using one of two technologies, namely, Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) and membrane nitrogen generators.

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Membrane nitrogen generators

The principle of operation for a membrane nitrogen generator is where atmospheric air is compressed by an air compressor and passed through a hollow fibre membrane, filtering out parts of air (primarily oxygen) leaving behind a high purity nitrogen gas.

More advanced nitrogen generation systems can include multiple stages of filtration before reaching the membrane, this removes more of the other particles in the gas such as dust and moisture. Fine mesh filters are commonly used in the nitrogen generation process, these are for removing particles in air whilst air dryers are used to remove moisture. Beyond ensuring higher purity of nitrogen, these extra filtration stages will also protect the membrane.

PSA nitrogen generators (Pressure Swing Adsorption)

A PSA nitrogen generator (Pressure Swing Adsorption) works in a similar way to a membrane nitrogen generator in terms of compressing atmospheric air with an air compressor. Instead of passing through a membrane, a PSA nitrogen generator will pass air through a column of tightly packed material at pressure made of carbon called a Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS). The CMS only allows the smaller nitrogen molecules to pass through whilst the larger molecules of oxygen and other molecules are adsorbed by the CMS leaving high purity nitrogen. Two CMS columns are required for a PSA nitrogen generator, as one column is deprussirized the other pushes the air through the sieve at pressure hence the name Pressure Swing Adsorption.

Similar again to the membrane nitrogen generator, an advanced PSA nitrogen generator will also contain prefiltration stages to remove dust particles and moisture from the air before entering the CMS. 

Nitrogen generators vs nitrogen gas cylinders

For most mass spectrometers, a high volume of nitrogen gas is required meaning that cylinders or bottles could be consumed in a matter of days, when using an LC-MS instrument. This can result in regular interruptions of analysis and the inconvenience of having to switch over cylinders or wait for nitrogen deliveries. There is also the added inconvenience of the inconsistent purity delivered by cylinders and bottles when they reach the lower end of their capacity. This is because contaminants can enter the empty space in the cylinder. These impurities can have an impact on the integrity of analysis as they can react with the sample.

These inconsistencies and inconveniences are eliminated by a nitrogen gas generator which is why more and more labs are turning to nitrogen generators to supply their instrument gas. Also, a nitrogen generator is especially suitable for time-critical applications where there is no time for the analysis to be halted while gas cylinders are changed over.

On-site nitrogen gas generation is also a safer solution than using cylinders as staff are not required to move heavy cylinders around the laboratory. There are also cost benefits as on-site nitrogen generator reduces the administrative burden of ordering cylinders (raising purchase orders and scheduling deliveries), paying delivery fees. On top of this, the price for gas which is delivered in cylinders can fluctuate from month to month, as the market price of nitrogen gas is subject to supply and demand volatility. It is also necessary to consider the environmental benefits of eliminating continuous deliveries of gas. The production of the gas itself must also be taken into account as producing gas at a nitrogen plant requires vast amounts of energy consumption.

For more information, please visit Applications of Roots Blowers in the Petrochemical Industry.

Nitrogen generators for the modern laboratory