andre178 - 1-11-2010 at 10:08
I am trying to transport Nitrogen gas for sparging reactions inside a typical sized anaerobic chamber. Does anyone have any idea of how I could make
this happen? Anyone run into this issue? Use of a smaller cylinder?
Contrabasso - 1-11-2010 at 10:28
Check your supplier for smaller cylinders, or look into a dewar and liquid nitrogen. Small cylinders contain little gas, small dewars contain lots of
nitrogen but a whole set of new cold problems.
peach - 1-11-2010 at 11:01
Is there no port on the chamber, or possibility of making one? Inert gas shouldn't be a problem through fuel taps used for burners, but I doubt health
and safety will like that if you start messing with the gas lines.
Personally, I'd look into drilling another hole in it and fitting another tap.
If not, you'll have to look into getting a cylinder that's small enough to poke through the access cover and then stand up inside.
As I'm in the UK, I have no idea what the precise dimensions of the cylinder that are available come in, so you'd be better calling the local big name
suppliers and ask them for a size chart. BOC do them and will send you one, if there's a BOC near by.
For sparging reactions liquid nitrogen is a no go given that the reactions will need precise flow control, which you won't get with the thermos
method. I can't even regulate the flow precisely enough with a standard regulator on mine, it needs needle regulation or the solvent is blown straight
out of the glass even at low temperatures.
I'd suggest oxygen depletion / absorption for a biological chamber, but for sparging reactions, you want it directly into the glass, so that means a
cylinder or fitting a tap.
Lecture bottles are designed for this kind of thing. They look identical to Soda Stream bottles most of the time. But they also tend to come with
fairly heavy duty price tags, so a normal commercial cylinder size would be best if it'll fit. Also, you'll have to bust straight through the normal
cylinder staff to the specialty gas staff, as the former likely won't know what a lecture bottle is. The price increase is often due to purity, where
you need super pure gases for lasers / physics / studying the gas it's self, as opposed to using it as a blanket for general chemistry. Meaning, a
bigger cylinder / port is probably going to save you a lot of money over not much time. And, as if that's not bad enough, the lecture bottles need
special regulators, normal CGA sizes don't fit the valves. Those regulators can be 10x more than a normal regular.
Hands up if you've ever owned a Soda Stream? 
{edit}I have.... it was a requested birthday present.
[Edited on 1-11-2010 by peach]
andre178 - 1-11-2010 at 11:29
LOL!
I've thought about it, I even found a cylinder type similar to a "compressed air duster" for nitrogen, but I have to order through the University
mediators, who often have no clue what they are doing with specialty items.
Alas, I will have to drill a hole through the chamber. I dread it already.
Thank you for your post, now at least it put to bed the other possibilities.
peach - 1-11-2010 at 11:49
For a professional finish, use the DeWalt 18V Li-ion
