The Environmental Benefits of On-Site Nitrogen and Oxygen Generation

Businesses across industries are looking for practical ways to reduce waste, improve efficiency and minimize the environmental impact associated with their operations.

For facilities that regularly use industrial gases, one opportunity can be found in an unexpected place: how nitrogen and oxygen are supplied.

Traditional gas supply models can involve producing gas at one location, processing it for transportation, transporting it to the customer and storing it until needed.

On-site nitrogen and oxygen generation takes a different approach. By producing gas directly at the facility where it will be consumed, businesses can reduce many of the transportation, storage and logistical requirements associated with delivered gas.

How Does On-Site Gas Generation Work?

The air around us naturally contains approximately 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.

On-site gas generators use this readily available air as their source.

Rather than manufacturing nitrogen or oxygen from raw materials, the equipment separates the desired gas from atmospheric air.

On Site Gas Systems utilizes technologies including Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) and membrane separation to produce nitrogen and oxygen according to an application’s requirements.

Once installed, the generator can provide gas on demand at the point of use.

Reducing Gas Deliveries

One of the clearest environmental advantages of on-site gas generation is the potential to reduce dependence on regular gas deliveries.

Traditional delivery models require trucks to transport gas from production or distribution facilities to individual customers.

Those trips consume fuel and generate transportation-related emissions.

A facility that requires frequent gas deliveries may receive dozens or potentially hundreds of shipments over the life of an on-site generation system.

Producing nitrogen or oxygen at the facility can significantly reduce those transportation requirements.

Fewer deliveries can mean:

• Reduced transportation activity
• Lower fuel consumption associated with gas delivery
• Fewer delivery vehicles entering the facility
• Reduced logistical requirements

For companies working to improve supply-chain efficiency, eliminating unnecessary transportation can be an important step.

Eliminating the Need to Transport the Gas Itself

On-site generation follows a simple principle:

Instead of transporting nitrogen or oxygen to the facility, bring the technology to the facility and produce the gas there.

Ambient air becomes the feedstock.

This local-production model can eliminate several steps between gas production and consumption.

For facilities with continuous gas requirements, the environmental advantages accumulate over the operating life of the generator.

Reduced Dependence on Cylinders

Facilities using gas cylinders require a continual cycle of delivery, storage, use, collection and refilling.

Although cylinders are reusable, maintaining that supply chain still requires transportation and handling.

An on-site system can substantially reduce the number of cylinders moving between a facility and its gas supplier.

In addition to environmental benefits, this can simplify operations by reducing cylinder storage and handling requirements.

Avoiding Cryogenic Supply Requirements

Some traditional industrial gas supply chains rely on cryogenic processes to produce, transport or store gas.

On-site PSA and membrane generation offer a fundamentally different model by separating gases directly from atmospheric air at the point of use.

For appropriate applications, this allows facilities to obtain the nitrogen or oxygen they require without maintaining the same transportation and storage infrastructure associated with externally supplied gas.

Produce Gas When You Need It

On-site generation also allows businesses to align gas production more closely with actual demand.

Instead of maintaining an inventory based on future consumption estimates, a properly designed system can produce gas as the facility requires it.

This on-demand approach can help create a more efficient gas supply strategy.

System design is particularly important here. Specifying a generator according to actual flow, purity and pressure requirements helps avoid unnecessary energy consumption.

Nitrogen Purity and Energy Efficiency

When it comes to nitrogen generation, more purity isn’t automatically better.

Producing increasingly high-purity nitrogen requires more energy. If an application only requires moderate nitrogen purity, generating ultra-high-purity nitrogen can be unnecessary.

Selecting the appropriate generation technology and purity level can therefore have both economic and environmental advantages.

PSA nitrogen generators are well suited to applications requiring high and ultra-high purity, while membrane nitrogen generators can provide an efficient alternative for many moderate-purity, high-flow applications.

Matching the technology to the application helps ensure businesses aren’t using more resources than necessary to produce their required gas.

Supporting Corporate Sustainability Initiatives

For manufacturers and other organizations working toward sustainability objectives, on-site gas generation can become one component of a larger environmental strategy.

Potential improvements can include:

• Reducing transportation requirements
• Reducing reliance on delivered cylinders
• Improving energy efficiency
• Producing gas according to actual demand
• Optimizing gas purity for the application
• Simplifying the gas supply chain

On-site generation won’t eliminate a facility’s environmental footprint, but it can provide a practical opportunity to rethink an industrial process that might otherwise be overlooked.

Environmental Benefits Can Align With Financial Benefits

One of the most compelling aspects of on-site nitrogen and oxygen generation is that environmental and financial objectives can often point in the same direction.

Reducing deliveries can reduce transportation requirements while also eliminating certain delivery-related costs.

Reducing cylinder dependence can simplify logistics while reducing employee handling requirements.

Optimizing purity can reduce unnecessary energy use while lowering operating expenses.

And producing gas on demand can improve resource efficiency while giving businesses greater control over their supply.

In other words, companies don’t necessarily have to choose between operational efficiency and environmental responsibility.

A properly engineered gas generation system can contribute to both.

A More Efficient Way to Supply Nitrogen and Oxygen

Nitrogen and oxygen are essential to applications ranging from food production and electronics manufacturing to healthcare, wastewater treatment, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, and numerous industrial processes.

How businesses obtain those gases matters.

By generating nitrogen or oxygen directly where it is needed, organizations can reduce their dependence on transportation-intensive supply chains while gaining greater control over production, purity and availability.

On Site Gas Systems has decades of experience designing and manufacturing PSA and membrane nitrogen and oxygen generation systems for applications around the world. Systems can be customized to meet specific flow, pressure, purity and operating requirements.

Contact On Site Gas Systems today to learn how on-site nitrogen or oxygen generation could help your organization reduce costs, simplify its gas supply and support long-term sustainability goals.