The Overview on Inert Glove Boxes and How They Work

For businesses that work with inert gases or hazardous materials, glove boxes are essential. They allow employees to safely work with sensitive or hazardous materials without compromising either the material or their safety. While glove boxes are an effective solution to handling inert and hazardous materials, they are not failsafe. To ensure there are no leaks in the glove box, it's critical to pair a glove box with an oxygen monitor. 

How a Glove Box Works 

A glove box, sometimes known as a dry box, is a large box with at least one window and two ports. The ports allow workers wearing arm-length gloves to place their hands inside the inert environment, where they can work with hazardous materials or inert gases, such as argon or nitrogen. 

The interior of the glove box is filled with an inert gas -- usually nitrogen, although it could be argon or helium if the materials used inside the box react with nitrogen. While the glove box environment is intended to be closed, small amounts of oxygen can seep through the glove ports. Thus, it's essential that the glove box be purged nightly. 

There's an antechamber on one side of the glove box. This allows you to place materials in the chamber, then open the interior door and bring them into the glove box environment. To prevent the insert gas inside from seeping out through the antechamber, you must never have both the interior and exterior door open at the same time. 

Inert gases, such as nitrogen and argon, displace oxygen. If these gases were to leak into the air via the antechamber doors or through a hole in a defective glove box, it would push oxygen out of the room. Oxygen levels would begin to drop, eventually falling below the OSHA threshold. 

When oxygen levels drop below the OSHA threshold, it can cause respiratory and cognitive problems, as well as death via asphyxiation. To protect employee safety in a glove box environment, it's critical to use oxygen monitors onsite. 

How an Oxygen Monitor Protects Your Workers 

While your staff might see the antechamber doors open and understand that a leak has occurred, most leaks are undetectable until it is too late. 

Inert gases have no color or odor, so there is no way for someone working onsite to know at a glance or sniff there's been a leak. Meanwhile, the air in the room would slowly lose oxygen, eventually leading to an oxygen deficient environment that places your employees at risk of death by asphyxiation. 

A wall-mounted oxygen monitor samples room air 24/7. The monitor remains silent if there's sufficient air in the room. If there is a leak of nitrogen, for example, and oxygen levels fall, the monitor will sound an alarm and flash lights, so workers can see and hear there is a problem. 

Your employees will be able to leave the room before suffering adverse health effects. Staff will also be able to complete shifts with less stress when they know the environment is safe, because they trust the oxygen monitor is working properly. 

PureAire's oxygen monitors feature long-lasting zirconium sensors. Once installed, these oxygen monitors measure the oxygen in the air for 10 or more years, without needing annual calibration or maintenance. The monitors are unaffected by sudden shifts in barometric pressure or thunderstorms. The digital display provides legible, updated oxygen readings so employees can check ambient oxygen levels. PureAire's oxygen monitors can be used in confined spaces and in temperature extremes as low as -40 Celsius. All PureAire oxygen monitors come with a three year warranty for your protection. Review specifications or learn more about oxygen monitors from PureAire by visiting www.pureairemonitoring.com

The Benefits of Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide for Food Processing

A blend of gases -- carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen -- help preserve packaged food by reducing the amount of oxygen inside the sealed package. Gas flushing or Modified Atmosphere Packaging, as the process is called, also reduces the amount of processing that food must undergo. This preserves the quality and nutrient content of meats, vegetables, and other foods.

Estimates suggest that 25-40 percent of fresh food does not reach consumers due to spoilage in transit. Modified Atmosphere Packaging enables fresh food to stay fresh by slowing down the food spoilage process, reduces food waste, and allows consumers to store purchased foods for longer. 

Without Modified Atmosphere Packaging, oxygen levels inside food packages would be 20.9 percent. By introducing nitrogen into the package, facilities strive to lower oxygen levels, sometimes as far as zero. With no oxygen inside the package, bacteria will be unable to grow and the food will not oxidize. Carbon dioxide also inhibits bacteria growth and lowers the pH of preserved food. Carbon monoxide is often used in meat packaging, as it can preserve the red color. Packing plants use either low-barrier, breathable film that allows fruits and vegetables to breathe, or high-barrier film that prevents gas inside packaged meat, fish, or cheese from seeping out. 

As oxygen is flushed out of the package, the blend of nitrogen and carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide is piped in and the package is sealed, trapping the inert gases inside.

While the process of Modified Atmosphere Packaging revolutionized food packing, it isn't without risk. Nitrogen gas, a critical component of the gas flushing blend, has the potential to create an oxygen deficient environment if a leak occurs. As nitrogen leaks, it physically displaces oxygen, often in a matter of minutes. As employees breathe air that does not have enough oxygen, they may become tired and confused or experience difficulty breathing. Within minutes, employees could die from asphyxiation as a result of breathing oxygen-deficient air. 

Since nitrogen gas has no color or odor, secondary measures must be used to detect a leak before staff experience life-threatening symptoms. One simple and cost-effective way to monitor the food packing facility for leaks is by using an oxygen monitor. 

How an Oxygen Monitor Protects Workers in Food Packing Plants

While it's critical to maintain the right blend of gas in packaged foods, it's also important to ensure that gas used in food packing equipment does not leak out of the machines. Gases used in food packing, including nitrogen, are colorless and odorless, so staff would be unable to detect a leak visually. By installing an oxygen monitor in the food packing facility, employers can detect leaks before workers' health is adversely affected. 

Since nitrogen gas depletes oxygen, it's easy to tell whether nitrogen is leaking by taking continual measures of oxygen. The secure, wall-mounted oxygen monitor checks the levels of oxygen in the room and remains silent as long as oxygen is above the minimum amount. 

The oxygen monitor will sound an alarm if oxygen falls to 19.5% or 18.0%. The 90 db alarm is designed to be heard over the sound of the equipment, and there's also a flashing light to warn employees of a drop in oxygen levels. Employees can then leave the room before the oxygen falls below the acceptable threshold and staff begin to experience health problems. 

In addition to using oxygen monitors on the food packing line, facilities should also use oxygen monitors wherever inert gases are stored. Oxygen deficiency monitors from PureAire are designed to last for a minimum of 10 years with no maintenance or annual calibration. The monitors feature a digital display that's easy to read, and do not drift as a result of barometric pressure. If you're looking for an oxygen monitor that's low maintenance, accurate, and easy to use, consider PureAire. Visit www.pureairemonitoring.com to learn more.

Nitro Beer Tastes Better

If you've ever remarked on the smooth creaminess of a pint of Guinness, you've picked up on the key difference in its carbonation: Nitrogen rather than carbon dioxide. Such "nitro" beers have become a trend in recent years, with major U.S. breweries and small startups alike offering nitro products. Nitrogen keeps bitterness in check and balances out the hops to make drinkable craft brews, but it also increases the risk for breweries. 

How Nitro Beer Works 

CO₂ is a natural byproduct of the beer brewing process, occurring when the yeast consumes the natural sugars in the wort. Breweries often add additional CO₂ when kegging or bottling the beer. The carbon dioxide gas adds flavor, aroma, and those bubbles that fizz against your tongue. CO₂ is also slightly acidic, so it can intensify the bitter flavors in a brew. While this might be desirable in a hop-bomb IPA or citrusy hefeweizen, it isn't always complementary to the flavor of the brew. 

Nitrogen gas adds carbonation without the bitterness, allowing the beer's natural flavors to remain. It delivers a new drinking experience with favorite brews. Nitrogen is harder to dissolve than carbon dioxide, so the resulting bubbles of carbonation are smaller. The mouth feel of a nitro beer is smoother or creamier. Dark beers -- stouts and porters -- pair well with nitrogen gas, but the nitro technique can also present a new take on a classic IPA or wheat ale. 

While the process of adding nitrogen to beer is similar to carbon dioxide, breweries must take some extra precautions. Nitro beers must be stored in tanks rated to a higher psi, 25 rather than 15. Breweries must also take precautions to ensure that nitrogen isn't leaking out of the supply lines or canisters and onto the brewery floor. Nitrogen gas displaces oxygen from the air, so if it did leak, the room would soon become oxygen deficient. Breathing oxygen deficient air causes confusion, dizziness, respiratory distress, and death via asphyxiation. Since nitrogen gas has no color or odor, breweries need a tool to check for leaks by measuring ambient oxygen levels. 

How an Oxygen Monitor Protects Brewery Staff 

Since staff cannot tell if there is a leak -- there's nothing to see or smell -- there is no way they can protect their health if a leak occurs. Oxygen monitors provide a safeguard against respiratory distress by measuring oxygen levels. As long as there is no leak, the oxygen in the brewery should remain constant. If nitrogen gas starts to leak, oxygen levels will fall. Before oxygen levels fall to a critical threshold, an oxygen monitor will sound an alarm. There's also a flashing light to get the attention of staff. 

When the alarm goes off, workers can exit the brewery floor before the lack of oxygen poses a threat to their health. Emergency personnel can then come and contain the leak. 

PureAire offers a robust oxygen monitor with two alarm levels: 19.5 percent and 18 percent, a 90 db alarm, and a bright flashing light. The oxygen deficiency monitor is designed to mount on the wall and features an easy-to-read digital interface, so workers can tell at a glance whether there's a problem.

PureAire's monitors use zirconium sensors, which deliver reliable performance even during thunderstorms, sudden barometric shifts, and other weather incidents. These O₂ monitors are designed to last for 10 or more years with no maintenance or calibration, unlike other products that need regular maintenance to remain effective.  

Breweries should place one oxygen monitor in the area where beer is bottled and kegged and another where nitrogen is stored. This ensures the entire facility is protected from leaks. 

Left Hand Brewery, a pioneer of the nitro beer trend, relies on PureAire products for workplace safety.  Learn more about the oxygen monitor form PureAire at www.pureairemonitoring.com.