Lab Manager | Run Your Lab Like a Business

Product in Action

Proton OnSite Nitrogen Generation Systems

On-site gas generation specialist, Proton OnSite, now offers a full laboratory line of hydrogen, nitrogen and zero air generators. Its line of nitrogen generators from the NiGen™ Micro with an output capacity of 500cc/minute to the NiGen LCMS 100 that can produce as much as 100L/minute offers carrier gas solutions for laboratories of any size.

by Proton OnSite

On-site gas generation specialist, Proton OnSite, now offers a full laboratory line of hydrogen, nitrogen and zero air generators. Its line of nitrogen generators from the NiGen™ Micro with an output capacity of 500cc/minute to the NiGen LCMS 100 that can produce as much as 100L/minute offers carrier gas solutions for laboratories of any size.

Proton OnSite’s fully stackable nitrogen laboratory units offer ultra high purity, while using very little lab space. Also, each of the nitrogen products in the line install easily, require little clearance and are low maintenance the Proton OnSite laboratory line of nitrogen generators offers laboratories a safer, inexpensive and more reliable source of inert gas.

Nitrogen, whenever it’s needed

It might be an inert, uninteresting gas, but the applications for a constant, reliable supply of high purity nitrogen gas are certainly more interesting and can even be the difference between life and death in some laboratories.

For the application of Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (LC/MS), nitrogen is most commonly used as the nebulizer gas to carry an ionized analyte through a mass spectrometer. This means, for a successful detection of a particular compound, the carrier gas supply must be constant and it must be available at all times. The only solution to ensure such a constant gas supply is from a source of nitrogen generated on-site.

The typical mass spectrometer demands between 1.5L and 2.5L per minute of nebulizer gas, which adds up, especially if a laboratory is running a test for eight or even 24 hours. Also, if the experiment demands a drying gas, that can raise the nitrogen demand during operation to as much as 32L per minute for certain periods of the process. In those situations, for practical, financial and safety reasons, on-site gas generation is a must.

As well as a stable supply, MS demands a stable flow. A mass spectrometer may demand as much as 100 PSIG of feed pressure to ensure flow controllers through the system work properly without that constant pressure, it can take a lot longer to get a stable gas flow. Using cylinders that have to be regularly replaced means a flow may not be maintained and the spectrometer’s detector may not pick up ions being passed through the system - that’s why a gas generator with an internal compressor means a better, more reliable experiment.

The financial cost of any process is always an issue for labs, so the ability to rely on a gas generator rather than constantly monitoring and replacing cylinders of nitrogen is much more cost-effective. In addition, the ability to ensure that a prepared operation will continue with a constant nebulizing gas supply is also cost-effective if a gas supply is lost, the process must be repeated, resulting in wasted time and money.

Because so many diverse and vital laboratories need to rely on LC/MS instrumentation, the ability to offer a costeffective, constant and reliable flow of nitrogen is a must. From a university needing a source of nebulizing gas to ensure experimental parity, to a neo-natal lab that needs a mass spectrometer to assess a sample of a sick infant’s blood in an instant, the benefits of an on-site source of nitrogen are numerous, but the greatest benefit is control.

Control is what any LC/MS user demands - whether it’s to create life-saving drugs or to test contaminated water, the user needs to be sure the process will work the risk of ceding control by relying on a source of nitrogen gas that is not being generated on-site is one variable that can be avoided with on-site nitrogen generation. For nitrogen gas when it’s needed, choose a nitrogen gas generator.

Proton OnSite’s range of nitrogen generators is a market leader in terms of reliability and performance. Not only can Proton OnSite guarantee 14,000 hours of maintenance-free compressor service, but using Pressure Swing Absorption technology and high efficiency hydrocarbon removal columns, Proton OnSite’s Carbon Molecular Sieves ensures highpressure nitrogen gas with purity of up to 99.9%.

Proton OnSite
10 Technology Drive
Wallingford CT 06492 USA
1-203-678-2000
www.protononsite.com