Bulk Gases and Services
Medical Gases available in bulk are:
Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide.
Oxygen and Nitrogen are stored as cryogenic liquids, whereas Nitrous Oxide and Carbon Dioxide are considered refrigerated liquids.
Many gases are stored in cryogenic form for economic reasons. More product, such as Oxygen and Nitrogen, can be transported and stored when in cryogenic form. A cryogenic vessel is required to maintain the product in a cryogenic state as long as possible.
Refrigerated liquids such as Nitrous Oxide and Carbon Dioxide are maintained in liquid state by using a refrigeration system and heater to maintain the product at the proper operating conditions.
Bulk Gas Installations and Engineering Drawings
Bulk Oxygen Systems
Medical Oxygen (USP) is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in a hospital. Oxygen is commonly used to treat patients with respiratory and cardio conditions and is used in surgery as a life support. Gaseous oxygen is delivered to patient care rooms and surgery suites through a series of customer owned piping within the facility originating at the bulk liquid storage vessels. Due to their large volume of oxygen consumption, hospitals and large surgery centers choose to purchase oxygen in its liquid form from Air Liquide to gain efficiencies and reduce costs. Air Liquide offers multiple sizes of bulk liquid oxygen storage vessels and appropriately sized reserved systems.
- In order to use Oxygen from a bulk cryogenic vessel there must be a transformation of the liquid into gas. Cryogenic liquids are converted to gaseous state using a vaporizer. The most common type of vaporizers are ambient finned tube vaporizers.
- The fins absorb the warm ambient air and transfers the heat to the cryogenic liquid flowing in the tube. The heat transfer converts the liquid into a gas.
Bulk Nitrogen Systems
Liquid nitrogen is used in laboratory applications for cold storage of research samples in cryogenic freezers at hospitals and research facilities. To improve efficiencies and reduce costs, medium to large research facilities will often construct freezer repositories with liquid nitrogen piped directly from the Air Liquide provided bulk storage vessel directly to the freezers through a series of customer owned piping. By choosing to purchase liquid nitrogen in bulk volume, customers reduce their time spent changing out VGLs and retain more products purchased, creating cost savings across the board.
- Liquid Nitrogen is used in two ways by our customers:
- As a gas typically for pneumatic tools used in operating rooms
- As a liquid for cryobiology applications
- One of the main dangers of Nitrogen is that it is an asphyxiant and does not support life.
Bulk Carbon Dioxide Systems
Liquid Carbon Dioxide is a commonly used gas in multiple laboratory applications. When usage volume warrants, carbon dioxide is available in bulk cryogenic storage vessels from Air Liquide. Carbon dioxide is converted from liquid to its gaseous form and is piped through the facility to the laboratories and attached research equipment. Air Liquide provides cryogenic carbon dioxide bulk vessels equipped with warmers along with appropriately sized reserve systems to research laboratories.
Bulk Nitrous Oxide Systems
- Nitrous Oxide systems typically have the reserve supply and the dual line controls located inside the facility.
- The control panel is set up to regulate the incoming pressure from the main and reserve supply sources and reduce it to the customer’s houseline requirement. This is typically between 45 and 55 psig for hospitals.
