There are many applications which require gas mixtures at relative concentrations that cannot simply be bought as pre-mixtures. Therefore, being able to blend your own gas mixtures in-house with good accuracy can be highly advantageous – which is where multi-component gas mixers are useful.
Gas mixing is often used to make gas calibration standards. For a mixer to be suitable for creating calibration standards, the accuracy and precision of the mixing control needs to be of the highest standard. Other applications that often require accurate gas mixtures are the creation of modified atmospheres for food preservation and crop growth.1
One way to perform in-house blending is to use a benchtop multi-component gas mixer.
What is a Benchtop Gas Mixer?
A benchtop multi-component gas mixer is an instrument that can be used to mix given quantities of several different gases. To be a benchtop multi-component gas mixer the device needs to have a modest footprint.
A benchtop multi-component gas mixer consists of a number of mass flow controllers that are used to control the amount of gas flow. Mass flow controllers are a good choice of a measurement device for an accurate multi-component gas mixer as the mass of the gaseous species is not affected by temperature or pressure, making it a more robust measurement than a volumetric one would be.
In a benchtop multi-component gas mixer each gas inlet is connected to the respective channel with its individual mass flow controller and then the gases are mixed in a balance gas until there is a 100% mixture. Multi-component gas mixers can easily mix many different kinds of gas together and many multi-component gas mixers are also programmable.
Environics’ Options
When choosing a benchtop multi-component gas mixer it is important to consider how many gases are to be mixed and what accuracy and precision the relative concentrations of each gaseous species need to be. For some applications, such as making medical gas mixtures, regulatory compliance may need consideration.
Environics are internationally recognized experts in gas mixing technology and offer the Series 4000UHP multi-component gas mixer for even the most complex and demanding of gas mixing applications.
The Series 4000UHP multi-component gas mixer is an ultra-high purity system that can produce mixtures with few percent to parts per billion concentrations for the most demanding calibration requirements. This multi-component gas mixer is designed with metal seals and minimal dead volume to avoid leaks and contamination when making calibration standards.
If you need a benchtop multi-component gas mixer that can support mixtures of up to seven different gas types, the Series 4000UHP multi-component gas mixer has eight mass flow controllers. The controlled are all factory calibrated to a United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reference to ensure you can make the most reliable and accurate measurements possible.
To streamline workflows, particularly for highly complex gas mixtures, this benchtop multi-component gas mixer comes with a Window application that allows for full control of the instrument via USB or RS232 interfaces. There are internally stored mass flow controller calibration tables as part of this you can create your own cylinder gas library to rapidly access information on frequently used gas cylinders.
Contact us today to find out how our multi-component gas mixers could revolutionize creating your calibration standards, or to simply request a quote.
References
- Falagan, N., & Terry, L. A. (2018). Recent Advances in Controlled and Modified Atmosphere of Fresh Produce quality. Johnson Matthey Technol. Rev., 62(1), 107–117. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1595/205651318X696684
