The benefits of having an on-site nitrogen gas generator

Nitrogen gas is a crucial part of many industrial processes, meaning that its demand is continuously high.  This is why a lot of facilities prefer having an on-site nitrogen gas generator at their disposal instead of needing to rely on bottled or liquid nitrogen.

This article will cover some of the key advantages of on-site nitrogen generation compared to other methods of nitrogen storage for various industrial applications.

What are the different nitrogen supply methods available?

Whilst this article is in favour of on-site nitrogen generation, it is worth talking about some of the other sources of nitrogen that are available in order for better comparisons to be made.

Bottled Nitrogen

Since the nitrogen that gets produced at off-site production facilities is bottled under very high pressures, the bottles that are used to contain the nitrogen are often very bulky and heavy. This means that safe transportation needs careful consideration and can have serious environmental and safety repercussions. Operators should be specifically trained in working high pressure bottles gases and manual handling avoided at all costs.

Compared to on-site generation, bottled nitrogen is a much more costly option due to the production and shipment costs associated with it. Furthermore, there is risk of nitrogen going to waste if the working pressure of the equipment is not greater than the bottle pressure. This can be avoided with on-site generation of nitrogen as the appropriate pressure can be set and there is no need for bottles.

Liquid Bulk Nitrogen Supply

Some facilities have a liquid nitrogen storage tank installed that gets periodically filled by a supplier. While this removes the hassle of transporting of heavy bottles, the liquid nitrogen still needs delivering via a thermally insulated truck which pumps the nitrogen into the storage tank.

There are risks associated with using a tank to store nitrogen, such as the insulation being faulty at times which can lead to the gas heating up and evaporating before use. This method is more economically sustainable than using bottled nitrogen, but there is a higher safety risk as liquid nitrogen is stored at temperatures as low as -196 °C which can result in dangerous frostbite if it comes into contact with skin. The carbon footprint and offloading to storage space required for regular transportation of gas to site is high with between 5% and 10% of the stored volume being lost per month due to “boil-off”.

Users of liquid nitrogen are tied into lengthy contracts of up to 10 years and managing the delivery of liquid and cylinder supplies can take many man hours. Furthermore, supply schedules can be erratic and this has known to affect manufacturing continuity for users. There are very few gas separation plants in the UK so disruptions and down-time can have a very significant effect.  

The benefits of on-site nitrogen generation

On-site nitrogen generation is a much more efficient and cost effective compared to bottled nitrogen and liquid bulk storage. Below are some of the key benefits of generating your own nitrogen supply.

• Security and continuity of supply
• Purity of gas can be set according to desired output
• No need for dependency on gas suppliers
• Lack of waste
• Most environmentally friendly option
• Safer method of production
• No long-term supply contracts

On top of this, on-site nitrogen generation also contributes to protecting the environment and CO2 reduction as a result of less transport. When we take into account how many different industries utilize nitrogen gas, from pharmaceutical companies to the food industry and breweries, the range of purity levels and other specifications that need to be met are vast. On-site nitrogen gas generation allows for this flexibility and the cost per unit of nitrogen can be lowered by customers producing the correct purity level for their application instead of the highest.

If an on-site nitrogen generator sounds like something that your business would benefit from, get in touch on our contact page and a member of the Maziak team will be more than happy to help you find what you’re looking for.