Are you experiencing helium supply issues and rising costs?
29 Oct 2018Helium supply issues are nothing new. At Restek we have been discussing this off and on for years now. The following articles and information are just a small selection of what is available on our website and our ChromaBLOGraphy, and are there to help you make informed decisions about alternatives to helium, and reduced helium consumption in your lab.
The History of Shortages
Alternatives to Helium
For years we have been writing and lecturing about using alternatives gases to helium in gas chromatography:
https://www.restek.com/chromablography/gc-carrier-gases--alternatives-to-helium
https://www.restek.com/chromablography/gc-carrier-gases-do-you-really-have-a-choice
Benefits and Considerations of Converting to Hydrogen Carrier Gas - http://www.restek.com/Technical-Resources/Technical-Library/Petroleum-Petrochemical/petro_PCTJ1729-UNV
Gas Generators
If you choose to move away from helium to hydrogen or nitrogen as a carrier gas, or purge gas, then a gas generator would be a great source for a consistent flow of clean gas. Gas generators have been used for many years for just this purpose. Yes they can be a high initial capital expense, but they can pay for themselves in as little as one year when you compare how much you would have been paying for helium in bottles. The modern gas generators have a series of safety devices built into them so that the concerns over using hydrogen, for example, are diminished to a point that it is no more of a problem than any other gas that is used.
Gas Management in Labs - https://www.restek.com/articles/gas-management-supplies-for-gc-labs
Working Safely with Hydrogen as a Carrier Gas - https://www.restek.com/articles/working-safely-with-hydrogen-as-a-carrier-gas
Restek's Selection of Parker Balston Gas Generators
Applications
I still hear your hesitancy and want to have some convincing evidence about using alternative gases in your applications. Well luckily for you we have done a lot of work on this, and here are a few examples:
Environmental
Organochlorine pesticides - EVAR1935-UNV
Petro
ASTM D2887 - PCAR2320-UNV
ASTM D7213 - https://www.restek.com/articles/alternative-carrier-gases-for-astm-d7213-simulated-distillation-analysis
DHA - PCAR2891-UNV.pdf
Others
Blood Alcohol - https://www.restek.com/chromablography/bac-analysis-using-hydrogen-carrier-gas-get-the-same-results-at-a-lower-cost
Pro-EZGC
You may not be able to find an example of your application in our database, but you can model it using Pro-EZGC. The Pro-EZGC suite allows you to enter your current conditions and then change certain parameters to translate the method. These parameters include the carrier gas. So you can model and improve your analysis before you even start performing experiments and method development on the instrument. The following link will take you to the Pro-EZGC suite and the tutorials to help you: