Understanding the Limitations and Concerns of Hydrogen Cylinder Since long, cylinders have been the prime and most famous source of hydrogen supply for various industrial and laboratory purposes. Unfortunately, several aspects have led to the users look for a different supply source. This is the main reason why hydrogen generators are becoming extremely popular. Some of the limitations and concerns of using cylinders are: 1. Safety Issues The high pressure of cylinders and flammable character of this gas put forth the safety issues in situations where multiple cylinders are used. Even if there is a single leak can increase the level of hydrogen content in the lab to explosive level. Not only this, the personnel are faced with problems due to the weight and size of these cylinders. 2. Handling and Storage Concerns The need to frequently change the cylinders and the constantly fluctuating supply of the same can interrupt an experiment or the GC. The monitoring of cylinders along with changing them from time to time is not only difficult but also time consuming. This makes the entire process quite expensive in terms of manpower, cylinder rental and/or cost. 3. Variation in Quality For a number of applications, high purity hydrogen is required. Even where the purity requirements are not so high, there must be consistency in the containment level and it shouldn’t vary. One of the main drawbacks of using cylinders over hydrogen generators is the risk of cylinder to cylinder variation which can easily hinder sensitive GC analysis.

Using Hydrogen Generators over Cylinders While changing the cylinders, one cannot prevent moisture and oxygen from entering the system. This creates a risk of contamination. For minimizing the impact of contaminants, hydrogen generators must be used. The growing need and demand of hydrogen cylinders for GC is now being acknowledged by manufacturers. These generators not only reduce the requirement of manpower but also eliminate several safety and cost issues.

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