Nitrogen generators designed to supply nitrogen onsite at up to 99,999% purity and deliver a potential 50% reduction in running costs, are now available.

Nitrogen is an integral part of the production process in many applications, in industries such as chemical manufacturing, food and beverage, processing and packaging, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and laser cutting.

 “Onsite industrial gas (nitrogen and oxygen) generation offers a much more sustainable and cost-efficient solution compared to cylinder or bulk liquid supply which require transport, handling, storage and administration,” notes Atlas Copco compressor technique industrial air division business line manager Wayne Jacobs.

Atlas Copco recently extended its NGP+ nitrogen generator range to include nine energy-efficient, high capacity models. These NGP+ generators are designed to protect the process application and plant equipment.

According to Jacobs, this range offers onsite nitrogen at flows ranging from 5.2 l/s (19 Nm3/h) to 797 l/s (2870 Nm3/h). “Operating with Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology, these plug-and-play NGP+ Nitrogen Generators can simply be plugged into existing clean, dry compressed air installation to offer an independent, reliable, secure, flexible and cost-effective supply of nitrogen.”

Core to the NGP+ is the carbon molecular sieve, which allows small oxygen molecules to penetrate the pores while large nitrogen molecules by-pass the carbon molecular sieve.

The NGP+ generators are equipped with an automatic ‘off-spec’ purity-control check that prevents nitrogen with a purity level less than the fixed threshold, from reaching a sensitive application. Additionally, fail-safe sensors monitor feed-air conditions such as temperature, pressure and pressure dew point. “If the feed air does not match the generators specifications, it is automatically blown off prior to entering the machine to eradicate the risk of contamination and component damage,” explains Jacobs.

In addition, in some sectors like rubber, metal production and general industry, customers are able to refine the purity level required for a given application.

The generators have been designed to include the integration of SMARTLINK, aligning these units with industry 4.0 applications. This data monitoring program collects, compares and analyses data in real-time to deliver an assessment of generator system performance. Machine monitoring and assessment aims to give customers increased reliability, reduced downtime and the ability to identify of energy-optimisation opportunities.

Atlas Copco technicians offer regular service and maintenance of its products, which include industrial oil-free and oil-injected compressors, gas and process compressors and expanders, air and gas treatment equipment and air management systems.

The company has added the new NGP+ generators to its existing range of onsite gas solutions, including both nitrogen and oxygen generators, available in membrane and PSA technologies.