Industrial Commodity
Gases
Industrial Commodity Gas Test Programs (ex. Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon)
Widely used commodity gases such as Nitrogen, Oxygen and Argon are commonly obtained by cryogenically liquefying ambient air, then distilling it into separate fractions of various purity levels.
Gas Purity is usually expressed in terms of “number of nines”. For example, a gas described as “five nines” is 99.999% pure or contains no more than 0.001% = 10 ppm v/v of defined impurities. Therefore, a gas purity expression of 99.999% is actually obtained by an “impurity subtraction” process.
This involves:
- DEFINING the most likely contaminants list
- MEASURING each targeted impurity
- SUBTRACTING total impurities found from 100%
Impurities routinely monitored in Air Separation Units (ASU) and specialty gases include:
- Nitrogen
- Oxygen
- Argon
- Krypton
- Neon
- Helium
- Carbon Monoxide
- Carbon Dioxide
- Nitrous Oxide
- Water Vapor
- Methane
- Acetylene
- Non-Methane Hydrocarbons
- Sulfur Oxides
- Nitrogen Oxides
- Halogenated Organics
- Particulates
In addition, we can employ our sophisticated GC/MS, FTIR, & SIS resources to check for any unexpected impurities.
ALI has the experience and assets needed to accurately determine the purity of ASU and other commodity gases (ex. xenon, krypton, neon) to any purity grade requirement. As a result, we perform routine, contractual ASU quality test programs for many international gas suppliers.
Additional, ALI also offers on-site ASU sampling services including extensive “intake air” quality test programs.
Supporting Documents
General Analysis Authorization Form
ASU Air Intake and Storage Tank Testing Program Product Brief
Sample UHP Reports
- Ar Report
- He Report
- N2 Report
- O2 Report
Sample ASU Reports
- Inlet Air Report
- LIN Results Report
- LOX Results Report
- N2 Analysis Report