There are many applications for gas mixtures. One of the most demanding is the creation of calibration gas mixtures for instrumentation, where great accuracy and precision must be achieved for the concentration measurements. Another is the creation of specialist gas blends for modified atmospheric packaging, where carefully selected gas mixtures are used to preserve product quality and shelf life.1
If instrument calibration needs to be performed regularly, it can be convenient to have small gas cylinders, such as a summa canister, on hand ready for use. This means multi-component gas canister filling capabilities are required. Many of the requirements for multi-component gas canister filling are the same for gas mixing systems; the device also needs to have the necessary connectors and interfaces to fill a canister.
Canisters are reasonably low pressure compared to cylinders, and multi-component gas canister filling is an effective way to improve instrument maintenance times and accelerate workflows. Multi-component gas canister filling means multiple canisters can be prepared at a time in a single process, and then the multi-component gas canister filling can be used for longer-term storage.
Gas Mixing
Environics are a world leader in systems for multi-component gas canister filling and gas mixing more generally. Sold as an option for many of Environics’ benchtop gas mixing instruments, the canister filling option allows the user to fill a connected canister to a preset fill pressure.
Multi-component gas canister filling can be used for storing volatile chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds and is an approach that works well for many kinds of gas mixtures. Many instruments require inert gas mixes for calibration, which helps reduce the challenges of the storage requirements.
Environics’ Canister Filling
Environics’ multi-component gas canister filling instrumentation is simple and easy to operate. This option is available with new units and can be retrofit into existing instrumentation. A canister simply needs to connect to the gas mixing/dilution system output. Flow is started and once the mixture has stabilized, the user switches flow to the canister for filling. Upon reaching the preset pressure, the Environics gas mixing device flow is automatically terminated.
Select the proper Environics ultrahigh purity gas mixing and dilution system, and then multi-component gas canister filling is simply a case of one optional add-on to the instrument. The multi-component gas canister filling instrumentation is handy as it allows for straightforward interfacing to make a useful canister.
Once a canister has been made, there is an easy-to-use portable amount of gas for storage or field use. Canisters are often much more practical than larger, higher-pressure gas cylinders that are not so straightforward to handle.
The easy portability of canisters makes it possible to check experimental set-ups in remote locations and ensure they remain well-calibrated. Environics offers support for an extensive range of gas types so you can make the suitable custom blend even for field calibrations of challenging instrumentation.
The critical advantage of gas mixtures for many applications is that more complex calibrations can be performed on several chemical species or multiple detection regions can be checked with only one calibration gas and not several. Multi-component gas canister filling methods are essential to preparing these.
Contact Environics today to find out how multi-component gas canister filling could save you time and effort on your calibrations and help you unleash the total efficiency of your measurement equipment.
References
- Falagan, N., & Terry, L. A. (2018). Recent Advances in Controlled and Modified Atmosphere of Fresh Produce produce quality. Johnson Matthey Technol. Rev., 62(1), 107–117. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1595/205651318X696684
