GAS GENERATORS

A product of Parker’s worldwide R&D resources and featuring a host of intelligent engineering solutions, unique technology and a sleek space-saving design, NITROSource is designed to work more efficiently for customers. Purely and simply, it’s better inside and out.

NITROSource offers a number of significant advantages over delivered gas options, as well as traditional generator designs. So when you’re considering on-site supply, NITROSource is the benchmark specification for maximum performance and lowest lifetime cost.

Highest efficiency, highest output nitrogen gas generator 

Developed through extensive research and design, utilising the latest flow modelling technology, materials and controls system, NITROSource is the highest 

efficiency nitrogen generator. Using less compressed air, it produces nitrogen at the lowest unit cost.

Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS)

NITROSource employs the most robust, highest efficiency CMS – the material that removes the oxygen from the compressed air stream. This is the ‘engine’ of the generator, and the source of valuable performance benefits: more gas for less compressed air, reducing energy consumption; a very long working life saving money on replacements; and less CMS per unit of gas produced, enabling a more compact unit.

Industry compliance, food and pharmaceutical safe

Independently tested by a third party UKAS authority, NITROSource offers total compliance with guidelines around food and pharmaceutical applications, so that it can be specified with complete peace of mind:

• Produces pharmaceutical and food grade nitrogen gas in accordance with European statute.
• Manufactured from materials that are safe for gas contact with pharmaceutical and food products, in line with the USA Food & Drugs Administration Article 21 (FDA Article 21). 

Unique Energy Saving Technology (EST)

Dramatically reduces compressed air consumption and energy cost, by ensuring that the inlet compressed air flow is always exactly matched to the nitrogen gas outlet flow and purity.

Expandable

Avoids unnecessary investment in surplus capacity at the outset. As an expandable system, NITROSource can be exactly specified for only the current requirement, and simply enlarged with additional generators – as and when demand increases. And with 100% back up provided by a single extra generator, there are extra savings on duplicating the complete set up.

Remote monitoring

With ‘MODBUS’, single or multiple generators can be connected to proprietary remote management and generator control systems; available as standard through an integral connection on the NITROSource.

Gas quality control system

Designed with five key components at its heart, NITROSource offers the assurance of the correct quality gas at all times. 

• Mass Flow Controller – whatever happens downstream, the generator will continue to deliver the correct set pressure and flow, removing the risk of any over-flow or compromise in nitrogen purity.
• Integral Oxygen Analyser – constantly measures the oxygen content in the output gas stream, ensuring that it is within the set limits and the correct purity gas is delivered.
• Off-Gas-By-Pass – ensures that the correct gas purity is always delivered to the application, by automatically allowing out-of-specification gas to vent
  to the atmosphere during start up, or in the unusual event of a fault.
•  Inlet and outlet pressure regulation – guarantees the correct compressed air-inlet and nitrogen gas-outlet pressures, ensuring maximum operating efficiency and safeguarding both equipment and product from potential damage or spoilage.
• Purpose designed electronic control system – ensures the correct quality, pressure and flow of nitrogen, through 100% control of all critical generator functions, including economy control, monitoring outputs and alarms.

PSA technology utilising Carbon Molecular Sieve – designed for over 10 year’s operational life.

Easy-to-use control panel plus mass flow controller and economy stand-by mode.

Modular design for expandability, and compact footprint for maximum versatility and optimum use of factory space.

Unique Energy Saving Technology: Exactly matches compressed air flow with nitrogen gas outlet flow and purity, for lowest energy consumption.

Integral Oxygen Analyzer – Constant monitoring ensuring the correct gas purity.

NITROSource nitrogen generators comprise of high tensile aluminium columns, each containing twin chambers of Carbon Molecular Sieve, (CMS), a material which removes oxygen and trace gases from compressed air by molecular adsorption, allowing nitrogen to pass through as the product gas.

Clean dry compressed air from a Parker domnick hunter pre-treatment package enters the lower inlet manifold and into the operational set of chambers. As the air passes over the CMS, oxygen is preferentially adsorbed into the CMS pores leaving an outlet stream of nitrogen gas. This nitrogen gas passes into the top outlet manifold, then into a process buffer vessel and finally through the generator control system to regulate pressure, flow and monitor purity before being released to the application.

The CMS in the opposite set of chambers has previously adsorbed oxygen and by releasing the pressure rapidly to atmosphere, oxygen is removed from the CMS and the cycle is ready to begin again. This cycle operates on a continuous basis, ensuring a constant stream of nitrogen gas, 24/7 if required.

The modular aluminium design eliminates the need for complex valves and interconnecting piping as used in conventional designs.

CMS is not considered to be a regular replacement component and is expected to have a minimum service life of at least 10 years, subject to correct operation and maintenance.

1.Pre-Treatment Package

All PSA nitrogen generators must have the correct air inlet quality to ensure stable operation and a long service life. Although refrigerant dried air is acceptable for lower purity applications, we believe that protecting your investment and ensuring trouble-free operation is important. Quite simply, in Parker domnick hunter’s long experience of manufacturing and installing PSA nitrogen generators, a PNEUDRI desiccant dryer will provide better protection to the CMS, typically extending the service life to 10 years and beyond.

This means that PSA nitrogen generators can operate from virtually any compressed air supply.

In addition, the pre-treatment package is controlled by the nitrogen generators, so that when it enters economy stand-by mode, the dryer also switches into economy stand-by mode. This consumes zero compressed air to save energy and significantly reduces running costs.

Good Quality Compressed Air = Good Quality Nitrogen

2. Specially selected CMS materials provide:

• Optimum gas productivity and regeneration to ensure consistent purity.
• High crush strength to prevent attrition and breakdown of the CMS.
• Low air to nitrogen ratios to reduce air consumption. • Wide purity range for customer flexibility. 

3. Modular Aluminium Design

Modular aluminium construction is used throughout for the CMS chambers and distribution manifolds. This innovative design allows the CMS material to be ‘snowstorm filled’ and then retained by spring loading to provide absolute maximum packing density. This prevents bed movement during transportation and operation to eliminate attrition, breakdown and leakage paths which could lead to premature failure or loss of nitrogen purity.

4. ‘Snow storm’ filling ensures consistent nitrogen purity

Parker domnick hunter PSA nitrogen generators utilises a technique known as ‘snow storm filling’ to charge the adsorption columns with CMS.

Benefits:

• Achieves maximum packing density for the CMS material, fully utilising all of the available space envelope.
• Less CMS required and prevents compressed air channelling through the CMS as experienced with most conventional designs. Due to channelling, conventional designs require more CMS to achieve an identical purity, increasing physical size, operational and maintenance costs.
• Prevents CMS attrition which can lead to dusting, blocked filters and silencers and catastrophic loss of nitrogen purity.
• Allows 100% of the available CMS material to be used for producing nitrogen, therefore reducing the amount of CMS required and overall lifetime costs.
• 100% of CMS is regenerated ensuring a very stable and consistent nitrogen purity.
• Provides a low, equal resistance to flow, allowing multiple CMS chambers and multiple generator banks to be used.

Snow storm filled bed

Consistent gas generation with no CMS attrition

Loose filled bed

Inconsistent gas generation with CMS attrition

5. Nitrogen Generator Control System

The nitrogen gas generators have a comprehensive integral control system fitted as standard with the following benefits:

Integral Oxygen Analyzer – This ensures that the nitrogen purity is constantly maintained and gives an instant visual confirmation of the output gas quality. 4-20mA outputs facilitate remote monitoring if required and the possibility to data log for complete traceability.

Mass Flow Controller – The mass flow controller stops the generator being overflowed and ensures the required purity and pressure are maintained regardless of downstream conditions. Consistently overflowing a nitrogen generator can cause irreversible damage to the CMS and affect its ability to recover gas purity.

Outlet Pressure Regulator – Controls nitrogen pressure to match system requirements and ensures that your process is protected against overpressure.

Economy Control – During periods of ‘no nitrogen’ usage, the generator senses this and enters economy

stand-by mode. As soon as nitrogen use is resumed again, the generator reverts to operational mode.

During economy stand-by, zero compressed air is consumed by the generator and the associated pretreatment package. This results in reduced energy consumption and significant operating cost reductions.