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You want purity, we’ve got it

The BIP® purification technology enables you to use argon, nitrogen, hydrogen and helium that are up to 300 times purer than normal cylinder gases.
Experis® gases with BIP® technology are available in 3 grades, featuring impurities as low as <10ppb total hydrocarbons, ≤ 10ppb oxygen and ≤ 20ppb moisture.

Gas Helium Hydrogen
Grade BIP® BIP® ECD BIP® Plus BIP® BIP® Plus
O2 < 10 ppb < 10 ppb < 10 ppb < 100 ppb < 100 ppb
H2O < 20 ppb < 20 ppb < 20 ppb < 20 ppb < 20 ppb
THC* < 100 ppb < 100 ppb < 50 ppb < 10 ppb < 10 ppb
CO + CO2 < 0.5 ppm < 0.5 ppm < 50 ppb < 0.5 ppm < 50 ppb
H2 < 100 ppb
CFC** < 1 ppb
N2 < 1 ppm < 1 ppm < 100 ppb < 2 ppm < 0.2 ppm
Certificate
of conformity
Batch Batch Individual Batch Individual
Gas Nitrogen Argon
Grade BIP® BIP® ECD BIP® Plus BIP® BIP® Plus
O2 < 10 ppb < 10 ppb < 10 ppb < 10 ppb <10 ppb
H2O < 20 ppb < 20 ppb < 20 ppb < 20 ppb < 20 ppb
THC* < 100 ppb < 100 ppb < 50 ppb < 100 ppb < 50 ppb
CO + CO2 < 0.5 ppm < 0.5 ppm < 50 ppb < 100 ppb < 50 ppb
H2 < 1 ppm < 1 ppm < 50 ppb
CFC** < 1 ppb
N2 < 1ppm < 0.3 ppm
Certificate
of conformity
Batch Batch Individual Batch Individual

* THC = total hydrocarbons as CH4
** CFC = chlorofluorocarbons

Consistent Purity

As a gas chromatographer, you may question whether the gas in the cylinders connected to your instruments consistently meets specified purity levels. The fact is, gas suppliers rely upon statistical quality control and batch testing to certify gas purity. This means that most cylinders are not individually analyzed; neither the gas supplier nor the end user really know the impurity levels. Many chromatographers install in-line purifiers to remove impurities that vary from cylinder-to-cylinder and to protect their instruments against the "bad gas" from the rare but real, highly contaminated cylinder that we call a "rogue" cylinder.

Although in-line purifiers can effectively ensure gas quality at the point of purification, they are not a perfect solution:

  • At least two fittings downstream of the last purifier train element are not controlled.
  • The purifiers don't remove all impurities equally well.
  • Purifiers can become saturated or consumed, allowing contaminants to break through.
  • Checking purifier performance requires time and instrumentation you may not have.
  • Purifiers entail capital and labour investments for proper maintenance. Purifier disposal must be done carefully in an environmentally friendly way - costs of this are rising.
  • And, ironically, purifiers allow the rogue cylinder to escape undetected; contaminants from a rogue cylinder captured by the purifier train may break through and contaminate the system long after the actual culprit cylinder has been replaced.

You never know when you'll get a rogue cylinder, and neither does the gas supplier.

That's why we developed the BIP® technology. It allows us to guarantee unmatched purity specifications for each and every BIP® cylinder, no matter when or where you order them. We can make this claim because we designed the capacity of the purifier bed in excess of that needed to meet our guaranteed specifications and this is proved by rigorous quality control. Plus, the unique cylinder valve prevents accidental back streaming of air during cylinder exchange or during cylinder refilling.

Unmatched Purity

BIP® cylinders deliver the highest purity helium, nitrogen, hydrogen and argon available. Experis® gases with BIP® technology feature impurities as low as <10ppb total hydrocarbons, <10ppb oxygen and <20ppb moisture.

Note that these specifications are for the product gas, not the gas residing in the cylinder. The BIP® purifier system guarantees that all gas exiting the cylinder, no matter how full or empty it is, meets these exacting specifications. In contrast, gas supplied in conventional cylinders often does not meet the listed specifications at lower pressures, since the specifications apply only for a fully pressurized cylinder. Only BIP® gases are guaranteed to meet specifications even when the cylinder pressure is less than 500 psig (34 barg).

What our customers say

"We dramatically improved the performance of our glove boxes with increased lifetime of the catalyst and reduced regeneration downtime. We wouldn’t recommend anything other than BIP® cylinder technology and its very low levels of H2O and O2."

Arend Kooi. Sales manager MBRAUN Glove Boxes, BFI OPTILAS B.V., The Netherlands

"We analyzed fatty acid methyl esters on a cyanopropyl siloxane column with FID and helium as the carrier gas. Carrier gas coming from Air Products' BIP® cylinders provided a more stable column quality over a longer period of time."

— Dr. Frank David, Research Institute for Chromatography

Air Products
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Tel.: +31 20 435 35 35

Air Products
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1165 AC HALFWEG
Tel.: +31 20 435 35 35

Literature

BIP® technology: the highest purity gases consistently
Download PDF (532 KB)

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