Nitrogen Generators Awareness Guide for Laser Cutting

TheManufacturer’sGuidetoNitrogenGenera5onforLaserCu8ng-v3.0

HowtoSaveThousandsPerMonthinNitrogenGasSpendwhilealsoImprovingYourLaserProduc5vity,Safety,andGreenFootprint

WhatisNitrogenGenera5on(GN2)attheMostBasicLevel?…ItistheSepara5onofAirtoCaptureNitrogen.

•  ComponentsofAirThatNeedtoBeSeparated

–  Nitrogen–78%

–  Oxygen-20.9%

–  Argon-0.9%

–  CO2-0.03%

–  OtherTraceGasses•  Hydrogen,Helium,Neon,KryptonandXenon

N 2

O 2

A r

CO 2

Other

www.LASER.LibertySystemsCompany.com 888.240.6994 1100 Cottonwod Ave,

Hartland WI, USA 53029 2

ThreeWaystoSeparateAirtoMakeNitrogen

–  ForOnsiteGeneratedNitrogen

1)MembraneSepara5on2)PressureSwingAdsorp5on(PSA)

-  ForTradi5onalLiquidNitrogen

3)Cryogenic/Frac5onalDis5lla5onofLiquidAir(usedbyindustrialgascompaniesintheirmanufacturingfacili5es)



The“Membrane”WaytoSeparateAir:•  HollowFiberMembranes

– MechanicalProcess– TypicalPuri5es

•  95%thru99.5%(5000ppmO2)

–  99.9%(1000ppmO2)flowsbelow500scf

–  99.99%(100ppmO2)isAchievable(requiresalotofenergy)

AIR Nitrogen

Fast water vapor and oxygen molecules diffuse through the membrane polymer.

Slow nitrogen molecules stay within the fibers and are Delivered as product gas



The“PressureSwingAdsorp5on”(PSA)WaytoSeparateAir

•  UsesCarbonMolecularSieve(CMS)toAdsorbO2Molecules– TypicalPuri5es

•  95%thru99.999%(10ppm)

•  Flowratesto20,000scf

O2 O2 O2

O2 N2

N2

N2

N2 N2 N2

N2

N2 N2 N2

N2

adsorption

N2 N2 N2

regeneration

O2 O2 O2

N2 N2

CMS CMS N2 N2

www.LASER.LibertySystemsCompany.com 888.240.6994 1100 Cottonwod Ave, Hartland WI,

USA 53029 5

NitrogenGenera5onApplica5onsInLaserCu8ng

– AssistGas•  PurityRequirements

–  10gaugeandthinner»  96–99.95%

–  10gaugeandgreater»  98–99.995%

– BeamPurge•  PurityRequirement

–  99.9%andgreater



TypicalMembraneNitrogenGeneratorInstalla5on

www.LASER.LibertySystemsCompany.com 888.240.6994 1100 Cottonwod Ave, Hartland WI,

USA 53029 7

TypicalPressureSwingAdsorp5on(PSA)NitrogenGeneratorInstalla5on

www.LASER.LibertySystemsCompany.com 888.240.6994 1100 Cottonwod Ave, Hartland

WI, USA 53029 8

MythsandMisconcep5onsTheBigGeneratorWatchOuts

•  TherearenotmanytrueexpertswhenitcomestoN2genera5on.

•  ThereareevenfewertrueexpertswhenitcomestounderstandingN2genera5on,specificallyforalasercu8ng,assistgasapplica5on.

•  TheGascompanywantstosellyouliquidgas,notgenera5on,sobecarefultakingadvicefromthem…itwillbebiasedandincomplete....andlikelygearedtosteeryouawayfromgenera5on.

•  LaserOEMsalespeoplecanbehelpful,butusuallyonlyhavesurfacelevelknowledgeaboutgenera5on.Wetypicallyknowthenitrogenissuesandopportuni5esassociatedwithlasercu8ngbelerthantheOEMsalesguys....usethisguidetobeginyoureduca5on...andthengetonthephonewithustohelpyouaddressyouruniquesitua5on.

•  Buyerbewarewhenrelyingongeneralistgeneratorvendorinsightsforlasercu8ng,asyoufaceundersizedmachinebuilds,onendesignedonthecheapfornon-laserapplica5ons,andaspecificlackofdeeplasercu8ngknow-how...Propersizingisthekeytogeneratorsuccess.

•  Yes,firstgenera5ongeneratorsbybigandsmallvendorswereonenunreliable,butdon’tletthatstopyoutoday...thisproblem/opportunitywasthereasonwestartedourcompany10+yearsago,tofixandfillthisvoidwithafocusonbulletproofreliablityforlasercu8ng.

www.LASER.LibertySystemsCompany.com 888.240.6994 1100 Cottonwod Ave, Hartland WI, USA 53029 9

MoreonReliability:TheKeytoGeneratorSuccess

•  Viaanyproposaloranalysis,thecostsavings,produc5vityimprovements,andROIofgenera5oncanlookgreatonpaperandinspreadsheets.

•  However,thekeytodeliveringonthesewonderfulcalcula5onsisprecisegeneratortuningforyouruniquelasercu8ngapplica5on(hardtodo)andarocksolidgeneratorbuildqualitythatnevergoesdowninademandingmetalfabenvironment(also,hardtodo).

•  Provenbymillionsofhoursofreliableup5me,andadmiledlybutproudlywithbias,…wefeelthemostbulletproofgeneratorthatispreciselytunedforlasercu8ngiswithoutadoubtaLibertySystemsGenerator…asystemthathasbeenvirtuallyperfectedvia10+yearsofhandsonexperienceinlasercu8ngandmorethan600installa5onsinsidemetalfabplants....designedbyengineerswhowerein-the-fieldmechanicsandelectricians,withlasercu8ngperfec5on,bulletproofreliabil5y,andmaximumcostsavingspaybackbeingourtrifectagoals.

•  Oursimpleremindertoplantmanagers,engineers,andbuyers...don’tbetyourcareeronlessthanbullet-proofgeneratorreliability.Thewonderfulcostsavingspoten5alofnitrogengenera5oncanquicklybeturnedupsidedownbyanunreliablegeneratorbrandcausingchroniclaserdown5meand/orfrequentuseofbackupliquidnitrogen.


WhatareTypicalGasCostSavingsofGenera5ngvs.BuyingLiquidNitrogen?

viaareliablegenerator,preciselytunedforlasercu8ng,byavendorwhoknowswhattheyaredoing…typicallythousandsofdollarspermonth

•  Generatevs.BuyviaBulk–  $0.50-$0.75perccflesstogenerate–  $2.00-$6.00perhourlesstogenerate–  Bulkgasalsosubjectto15%+hiddengaswastecausedbystorageven5ng

•  Generatevs.BuyviaMini/MicroBulk

–  $1.00-$1.25perccflesstogenerate–  $10.00–12.50perhourlesstogenerate–  MicroBulkgasalsosubjectto15%+hiddengaswastecausedbystorageven5ng

•  Generatevs.BuyviaDewar

–  $2.00-$2.50perccflesstogenerate–  $20.00-$25.00perhourlesstogenerate–  Dewargasalsosubjectto15%+hiddengaswastecausedbystorageven5ng

•  Generatevs.BuyviaCylinder

–  $3.00-$3.50perccflesstogenerate–  $30.00-$35.00perhourlesstogenerate–  Cylindergastypicallydoesnothavetheven5ngissuesseenwiththelargerstorageformats.


WhatareYourProduc5vityImprovements?viaareliablegenerator,preciselytunedforlasercu8ng,

byavendorwhoknowswhattheyaredoing

•  Poten5altoincreasefeedrateorcu8ngspeed•  Produc5onisNot“ShutDown”duetoyourgassupplier

ven5ngyourgastoatmospherepriortodepressurizingyourtanktorefillyourBulkorMicroBulkTank

•  StaffcanfocusonwhattheydobestratherthanswitchingoutcradlesofcylindersorDewartanks

•  Havea24/7supplyofgeneratednitrogen,neverrunout,neverbedependentontruckdeliveryschedule.


WhatistheImpactonProduc5onQuality?ofareliablegenerator,preciselytunedforlasercu8ng,


•  Withproperimplementa5onandtuningstrategy…processedpartswillmeet,exceed,and/ormaintainyourcurrentqualityrequirements.


WhatistheImpactonSafety?ofareliablegenerator,preciselytunedforlasercu8ng,


•  Reduc5onofriskandpoten5alliabilityofyourstaffchangingoutandhandlinghighpressurecylindersordewars.

•  Cradlesof2400psigcylindersarenolongerstoredinsideyourfacilityfurtherreducingrisk.


WhatistheImpactonYourGreenFootprint?viaareliablegenerator,preciselytunedforlasercu8ng,


•  ThereisnolongeraneedforaDieselvehicletotransportliquidnitrogen,dewarsorhighpressurecylinderstoyourfacility.

•  ThisreducesCO2emissionsandcarbonfootprintbyafactorof2.77kgpergallonofdieseltakenofftheroad

•  EXAMPLE–  adieseltruckcarryingnitrogengas

•  Truckgets6milesmpg•  2.77kgcarbonpergallonofdiesel•  25milestoyourfacility•  25miles/6mpg=4.15*2.77kgcarbon=11.5kg•  Theavg.carbonfootprintperdeliveryis11.5kg

–  Thiscarbonnolongeremiledwithon-sitenitrogengenera5on


WhatAboutMyGasContract?

•  Therearesimple,buteffec5vestrategiestomaintaincompliancewithanexis5ngindustrialgascontractwhilebringingonyourownnitrogengenerator.

•  Gascontractsrarelystopagoodnitrogengenera5onproject,thereisusuallyawaytohaveyourGN2cakeandeatittoo,withintheconfinesofyourexis5nggascontract!

•  Gascompanieswanttosellliquidgas,becarefulrelyingontheirguidancewhenassessingthefeasibilityofgenera5on.


AboutLibertySystems

Wehelpbusinessesovercomeliquidgascostchallengesviaourindependentgasadvice,andfastpaybacksolu5onsusingnitrogengenerators,gasmixers,gassurgelimiters,andairsystems..Weguaranteepropersizing,andareknownasthemostreliablelaserassistgasgeneratorinthemetalfabindustry.At1,000+systemsinstalled,over15years,acrossNorthAmericaandglobally,someclientsincludeKochIndustries,RacineMetalFab,JohnDeere,Hohmann&Barnard,RatermannMfg,andPraxair.AndaretherecommendednitrogengeneratorbyallthemajorlaserequipmentOEMsacrossthemetalfabindustry.HQAddress:1100ColonwoodAve,Hartland,WIUSA53029


Whattodonext?…GetQ&A,CostSavings,andQuoteAssistancefromOurHelpdeskGetallyourques5onsansweredbyalasercu8ngnitrogengeneratorapplica5onsengineerand…-  Naildowntechnicalissuesandtrade-offssoyouhavealltheinfoyouneed.-  Determineyourgascostsavingsopportunitytostopwas5ngmoneynow.-  Discoverwhatgeneratordesigndetailswillgiveyouthereliabilityyouneed.-  Receiveabudget-friendlyquoteonanultrareliablesystemthatmeetsyourexactneedsGetAssistancefromtheLibertyHelpdeskNow.+1.888.240.6994orLaserHelp@LibertySystemsCompany.com

www.LibertySystemsCompany.com 888.240.6994 1100 Cottonwood

Ave, Hartland WI, USA 53029 18

“Selecting the right generator is very challenging, the guys at Liberty spent extra time answering all my questions.” Plant Manager, Racine Metal Fab

Engineering

Nitrogen Generators Awareness Guide for Laser Cutting