Chromatography Forum

Hi there folks,

I've been looking for some information on a wilder idea I have. Lab space is a bit of a premium and with some changes happening to the facility it makes sense for the lab gas to move (Helium, Hydrogen and Oxygen). I see storing gas cylinders outside is common place, but USING the cylinders from outside I have yet to find anyone that has done that.

What I'm looking at is piping my GC's to the outdoor cylinders and using some kind of pack system from a gas supplier to make sure we have enough gas pressure and volume to accommodate the distance it would be apart. I just want to see if there is any concern doing something like this overall that anyone has. Never posted here before but have certainly lurked around over the years on people's troubleshooting.

Thanks,

I've seen this done (with He). Angle iron mounted to masonry, anchors and straps or chains secure tanks to wall, tanks are connected to individual CGE fittings, each with its own ball valve and line leading to a manifold and a pressure gauge so that they can be "hot swapped".
I don't know if this is safe to do with anything but inert gases, and I certainly would not do this unless the outdoor area is well secured.
It's also a good idea to have at least a sloped lean-to type roof over things to mitigate exposure to the elements.

Yes and no. My cylinders were in an essentially unheated room with a door to the outside that didn't really close. I'm pretty confident that the temperature doesn't matter much for compressed gasses, but I can't speak to the effects of rain or wildlife. Oh, except for wasps. Some of them packed mud inside the gas port on a liquid argon tank, which did an impressive job of plugging it. But they were gone by the time we noticed it, so nobody got any splitless injections of venom to the arm.

I have done it at three labs - cylinders in their own roofed, walled place outside, gas piped in at about 3 bar (or whatever input pressure the GC wants) through 1/4 copper pipe for long runs (more than 10m) 1/8 inch for short runs (through a wall into the lab).

Peter

I have worked at multiple facilities with outdoor gas storage.
For security and protection from the weather, a full length (ground to roof) chain-link fence with a roof above is very common.

It is very important to keep any pressure regulators, scales for weighing cylinders, and/or flow controllers out of the weather to prevent damage or malfunction. This becomes even more important if the site encounters freezing conditions. (Check the equipment's temperature ratings).

Consult local safety/fire regulations for storage of fuel vs. oxidizer vs. inert gas cylinders. There is likely a distance requirement between different types of storage.

I know of at least three facilities that use outside cylinders including one in Montana. You might consider a secondary single stage regulator inside to mitigate outside temperature swings. Very doable.

Best regards,

aicmm