Nitrogen generators are a safer and more convenient alternative to using gas cylinders. Every time you change a gas cylinder, you take the risk of polluting your gas line with contaminants and impurities. Whereas with a nitrogen generator once installed, it will always provide the correct, consistent, worry-free gas purity to suit your needs. Nitrogen gas is 78% present in atmospheric air. But how does a nitrogen generator work?

Generators with PSA technology:

The gas generator is designed to absorb ambient air through an integrated air compressor. The pressurized air is first pre-filtered to eliminate water and dust present in the atmospheric air. This pre-filtered air stream is then passed through a CMS bed, also called molecular carbon, which is in purification mode. Pressurized air is passed through the CMS column so that O2, C02 and H2O molecules and hydrocarbons are retained in the molecular sieve. The nitrogen leaving the CMS column can be stored in a tank. During this CMS filtration phase, the second column is regenerated by depressurization supported by a nitrogen countercurrent. The process is cyclic and fully automatic, ensuring a continuous production of clean, dry and high purity nitrogen, offering purities of over 99.999%.

Generators with Membrane Technology:

Nitrogen from the air is absorbed inside the generator. This air flow is compressed and pre-filtered to pass through a membrane made of semi-permeable polymeric hollow fibers allowing a molecular separation. Small molecules such as O2 and carbon dioxide diffuse through the pores of the membrane while the larger nitrogen remains in the membrane flow. Nitrogen gas is then left in place and is ready to be delivered to the instrument. This is still a simple system, but unfortunately, in addition to offering nitrogen with purities of less than 99.5%, it ensures a life of less than 5 years, as there is no regeneration of the membrane. In addition, to protect the membrane against hydrocarbons, it is advisable to add an activated carbon filter.