Problem5

Over the past three years, users of thousands of BIP helium and nitrogen cylinders have realized significant cost savings through:

Sometimes the productivity and cost improvements are incremental, but many small improvements over time always lead to significant total savings in the long run.

Have you ever thought about the total costs involved in the purchase and maintenance of your external purifiers? By eliminating the need for purifier trains, BIP gases eliminate:

Investment in purifier train hardware and components
Labor to install
Regular replacement hardware costs
Shipping and handling costs
Disposal costs

Time to order replacement components (purchasing, laboratory, accounts receivable)
Labor to handle and deliver internally
Admin time to discuss and schedule changeouts
Time and labor to change out
Time to equilibrate instrument
Time and labor to leak-test the fittings
Time to update maintenance log
Time and labor to dispose of purifiers

Savings will vary from lab to lab�one lab paid for 75% of its gas usage by eliminating its purifier train. Also, keep in mind that several different departments [Purchasing, Accounts Receivable, Shipping, Staging/Chemical Stores] can improve productivity and reduce overhead costs when BIP gases are substituted for in-line purifier trains. Of course, no purifier cost savings will be realized if in-line purifiers are not being used.

"We have seen a 75% decrease in ECD cleaning and purifier maintenance costs."

�A Contract Analytical Laboratory in Letmathe, Germany�Lobbe GmbH

(Read the testimonial, "The BIP Technology Makes Analysis Simpler for Lobbe")

The GC gas supply and purifier train, the instrument itself, and the sample can all create baseline problems. When a baseline gets out of control, chromatographers typically start their troubleshooting with the gas supply. By the time new purifiers are ordered and received and cylinders are replaced, several days can slip by. Even worse, after spending time and money to verify the quality of the gas supply, the problem may still exist. BIP gases can save those resources by categorically removing the gas supply from the troubleshooting equation. They decrease total instrument downtime, focus the troubleshooting process, and cut the time required to find the real answer.

Oxygen and moisture impurities in the carrier gas can quickly degrade certain GC columns, leading to eventual failure of the column. Because of their exceptional purity, BIP gases have extended column lifetimes significantly, with corresponding dollar savings.

"We found that the BP gases contributed to the longevity of cyanopropyl polysiloxane columns. Lifetimes were predicted to be more than 4 times longer compared with standard industrial gas grades having several ppm levels of oxygen impurity, which can result in up to 70% cost savings."

�Dr. Anthony M. Edge, UK Laboratory of the Government Chemist [LGC]

(Read the testimonial, "Air Products Reports Significantly Lower Costs through Increased Column Lifetimes in GC Analysis When Using Their Revolutionary New BIP Carrier Gases")

"We analyzed fatty acid methyl esters on a cyanopropyl siloxane column with FID and helium as the carrier gas. Carrier gas coming from Air Products' BIP cylinders provided a more stable column quality over a longer period of time."

�Dr. Frank David, Research Institute for Chromatography

(Read the testimonial, "Up to 30% Higher Response in GC with Gas from Air Products' BIP Cylinders")

"We found column lifetimes increased significantly with BIP cylinders, reducing our replacement costs. The cost savings in columns alone have been significant ... but when you take lost time into account, the savings are even bigger."

�Andrea Dawson, Trace Organics Analyst, Analytical and Environmental Services Ltd. (AES), UK

(Read the testimonial, "BIP Technology Saves Time and Money at AES")

Most chromatographers avoid draining a gas cylinder because impurity concentrations rise dramatically as the pressure drops below about 500 psig (34 barg). Draining a cylinder decreases the lifetime of in-line purifiers and increases the probability of coating the regulators and lines with organic impurities (such as oils) that evaporate with water from the cylinder wall as the cylinder pressure decreases.

BIP cylinders can eliminate this problem, as illustrated in a semi-log plot of the water vapor concentration in nitrogen as cylinder pressure decreases to zero (see image, below). The top curve shows how the moisture concentration in a standard cylinder starts at about 3000 ppb (210 barg) at high pressure, drops to almost 30 ppm by about 300-400 psig (21-28 barg), and continues sharply upward as the cylinder is vented to atmospheric pressure.

In contrast, the lower line in the graph shows that the concentration of water in nitrogen from a BIP cylinder did not vary as the cylinder pressure dropped. Of course, the BIP cylinder and the feed gas are controlled at very low levels of atmospheric and organic contamination from the beginning. Then the purifier guarantees that the product gas will not exceed the specifications at any point during consumption of the cylinder contents. The result�depending on the pressure at which you typically switch cylinders, you can get up to 20% more usable gas from each cylinder.