Specialty Gas Distribution Equipment for Pittsburgh

Specialty gases can be effective only in the context of how effective the apparatus is that’s employed to disseminate them. The purity and precision these gases provide can be reduced in the absence of proper pressure and flow control and without the means to identify gas use.

While the general understanding is that compressed gases, given their nature, are delivered in high-pressure gas cylinders, regulating that pressure in typical use is often relegated to an afterthought. You can count on there being important distinctions between cylinder regulators intended for oxy-fuel cutting and welding, conventional purge gas applications, and specialty gas use.

The PurityPlus^® gas pressure-reducing regulators and flowmeters available from Greco Gas have the exceptional quality in materials, design, and assembly that distinguishes them from the usual industrial gas equipment. While costing more, this equipment tends to have a value that far outstrips its price. PurityPlus^® regulators, for example, most often use diaphragms made of stainless steel instead of rubber. Rubber diaphragms have a propensity to soak up moisture and impurities, then off-gas such contaminants as the cylinder supply pressure falls. This can seriously effect carrier gas flow and instrument response.

Similarly bothersome is the matter of crawl. As the pressure in a gas cylinder is brought down, the pressure on the diaphragm is also reduced, and the outlet pressure can rise. To compensate for this action and tamp down its effects, it is strongly advised that a two-stage PurityPlus^® regulator be utilized. The manufacturer presets the first-stage pressure reduction, usually around 300-500 psig, letting users  control the ultimate outlet pressure in the second stage. Setting an intermediate pressure weakens the crawl effect by the second stage to ensure that  it’s almost a done deal until the cylinder pressure comes down below 150-200 psig.

For comparative purposes, look at an industrial gas single-stage regulator. In the single-stage design, the single diaphragm undergoes a uninterrupted lowering of supply pressure as well as a gradual but unbroken rise in outlet pressure that can vacillate as much as 10-15 psig.

These are only a couple of examples illustrating why the right gas also demands the right gas equipment. Contact us online or phone us, Greco Gas, at (724) 226-3800. We not only have the right gases and the right equipment with the right options for you, but we also have the right answers to any question you might have about specialty gas control.