What are Oxygen Deficiency Monitors?

What is an Oxygen Deficient Environment?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines an environment in which oxygen levels fall below 19.5 percent as an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, which should be treated as immediately dangerous to health or life. When there is not enough oxygen in the air, persons within the affected area may become disoriented, lose consciousness, or even suffocate due to the lack of sufficient oxygen.

An oxygen-deficient environment may be created when oxygen is displaced by inert gases, such as nitrogen, helium, argon, or carbon dioxide. Therefore, manufacturers and other organizations utilizing inert gases in their operations need to successfully navigate complex working environments in which high concentrations of such gases may be critical to production procedures, but where the risks of oxygen deficiency may pose a potential safety hazard for their employees.

Fortunately, by utilizing a top-quality oxygen deficiency monitor, facility managers can maintain stringent processing requirements, as well as protect the health and safety of their personnel.

What is an Oxygen Deficiency Monitor?

An oxygen deficiency monitor is a device that measures oxygen levels in a particular area. By continuously tracking oxygen levels, oxygen deficiency monitors are designed to detect gas leaks from oxygen-depleting gases before employee health is jeopardized.

A number of gases, including nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, and argon, among others, are odorless, colorless, oxygen-depleting gases. As such, unless they are using a reliable oxygen deficiency monitor, personnel would likely be unable to detect a gas leak should one occur in a gas cylinder or line.

Which Industries Should Use Oxygen Deficiency Monitors?

Oxygen deficiency monitors contribute to safe working environments in any scientific or industrial application utilizing oxygen-depleting gases and, therefore, requiring continuous monitoring of oxygen levels. For instance:

• The medical industry uses inert gases for a variety of purposes, including MRI facilities, performing cryosurgery, in-vitro fertilization, and cryostorage facilities, and for blood and tissue preservation, while laboratories typically use compressed gases including argon, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturers depend upon gases such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide to maintain sterile environments throughout the drug manufacturing and packaging processes.
• The food and beverage industries rely on carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas for a range of uses. By way of example, carbon dioxide carbonates beverages in bars, fast-food establishments, and restaurants, and it is a critical component in the productions of soft drinks and beer. Nitrogen gas is important in food preservation processes, where it is used to remove oxygen from the manufacturing environment, extend product shelf life, and decrease the likelihood of spoilage.
• Semiconductor fabricators and foundries must closely monitor process gas levels, as an improper amount of gas can ruin the quality and integrity of the components and devices being manufactured.

The foregoing bullet points highlight just a few of the industries that need oxygen deficiency monitors as part of their daily operations. Others include aerospace, cryotherapy, additive manufacturing, research and development, alternative fuel, waste management, and the oil and gas sectors.

PureAire Oxygen Deficiency Monitors

PureAire Monitoring Systems’ line of oxygen deficiency monitors offer thorough air monitoring, with no time-consuming maintenance or calibration required. Our monitor continuously tracks oxygen levels and, in the event of a gas leak and a drop in oxygen to an OSHA action level, will set off an alarm, complete with horns and flashing lights, alerting employees to evacuate the affected area.

The monitor will remain accurate at temperatures as low as -40C. PureAire’s durable, non-depleting, long-life zirconium oxide sensor will last for 10+ years in a normal environment without needing to be replaced.

Where Should Oxygen Deficiency  Monitors Be Installed?

Oxygen deficiency monitors should be installed 3 to 5 feet away from a gas cylinder or gas line, and in any location where there is a risk of gas leaks that may cause a drop in oxygen to an unsafe level.  So that employees can see the monitors and verify their performance, the monitors should typically be mounted 3 to 5 feet off the ground.

There are many other configurations for mounting. For instance, PureAire oxygen deficiency monitors can sample oxygen levels from up to 100 feet away using ¼  inch tubing, or be installed within a glovebox, freezer, gas line, sealed chamber, or even below ground level. PureAire oxygen deficiency sensors can be mounted directly in vacuum chambers with the use of a KF25 vacuum fitting.

How Many Oxygen Deficiency Monitors Do I need?

To ensure safety, PureAire generally recommends that one monitor be installed for approximately every 400 square feet of your facility’s space. However, since cryogenic gases, such as argon, helium, and nitrogen, are unpredictable, we encourage you to contact PureAire for additional guidance specific to your needs.

Don't Throw Away Your Shot...the Cold Truth About Vaccine Handling and Storage

 

In modern times, vaccines have been widely used to keep people healthy by protecting them from serious illnesses and diseases. Worldwide, vaccines annually prevent millions of deaths, and their utilization is responsible, in many parts of the globe, for the nearly total eradication of numerous diseases, including polio, measles, and smallpox.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (the "CDC"), a vaccine for a specific disease stimulates an individual's immune system, causing it to produce antibodies to counteract the antigens associated with the disease in question, just as one's immune system would do if one were actually exposed to the disease. The concept is that, after getting vaccinated, the inoculated patient develops immunity to the disease without first having to contract it. Unlike medicines, which are used to treat or cure diseases, vaccines are intended to prevent them.

Handling and Storage of Vaccines

Developing a vaccine can take years before it is deemed safe for human use and, thereafter, manufactured and made available for widespread distribution and inoculation. Throughout the manufacturing and  distribution process, and up to the time of administration, a vaccine must be kept in strict climate-controlled environments, collectively referred to as the "cold chain." The CDC describes a cold chain as a temperature-controlled supply chain that includes all vaccine-related equipment and procedures. The vaccine cold chain begins with a cold storage unit at the vaccine manufacturing plant, extends to the transport and delivery of the vaccine (including proper storage at the provider facility), and ends with the administration of the vaccine to the patient. A breakdown in protocols anywhere along the cold chain could reduce the effectiveness of, or even destroy, a vaccine.

According to FedEx, while most vaccines have traditionally been transported in a cold temperature range of 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius, certain vaccine manufacturers and pharmaceutical firms require a much lower temperature range within the cold chain associated with specific vaccine products.

Dry ice, which is the common name for solid (i.e., frozen) carbon dioxide, is often used in cold chains to maintain the very cold temperatures required to keep certain vaccines viable. At a temperature of approximately -78.5 degrees Celsius (equating to  -109.3 degrees Fahrenheit), dry ice is significantly colder than frozen water (that is, conventional ice), making it ideal for transport and storage of those vaccines requiring an extremely cold temperature environment.

Safely Tracking Carbon Dioxide Levels When Working with Dry Ice

Safety precautions are critical when shippers use dry ice in the transportation and storage of vaccines. Unlike conventional ice, dry ice does not melt into a liquid. Instead,  dry ice "sublimates" (changes from a solid to a gas state), turning into carbon dioxide gas. In small, poorly ventilated spaces, such as storage rooms and closets, cargo vans, trucks, and airplanes, carbon dioxide can build up, creating a potentially serious health risk.

Carbon dioxide is an oxygen-depleting gas that is both odorless and colorless. As such, absent appropriate monitoring, workers involved with the transportation and/or storage of products frozen with dry ice likely would be unable to detect if dry ice were to begin to sublimate, with carbon dioxide gas levels possibly rising to unsafe levels. When there is not enough oxygen in the air, persons working in the affected area may become disoriented, lose consciousness, or even suffocate due to the lack of oxygen

Fortunately, by utilizing a top-quality oxygen monitor, also known as an oxygen deficiency monitor, vaccine transportation storage personnel can track oxygen levels and detect (and react to) dangerous carbon dioxide levels before employee health is jeopardized.

PureAire Dual Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide Monitor

PureAire Monitoring Systems' Dual Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide Monitor offers thorough air monitoring, with no time-consuming maintenance or calibration required.  A screen displays current oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, for at-a-glance reading by employees, who derive peace of mind from the Monitor's presence and reliable performance.

In the event that dry ice begins to sublimate, causing carbon dioxide levels to rise, and oxygen to decrease to unsafe levels, PureAire's Monitor will set off an alarm, complete with horns and flashing lights, alerting personnel to evacuate the area.

Our Dual Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide Monitor is well-suited for industries where dry ice is used, such as in the handling, transportation, and storage of life-saving vaccines. The Monitor includes both a non-depleting, zirconium oxide sensor cell, to monitor oxygen levels, and a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensor cell, to monitor carbon dioxide levels. Known for their dependability, PureAire's O2/CO2 Monitors can last, trouble-free, for over 10 years under normal operating conditions.

Brewers Safely Capture and Reuse Carbon Dioxide

 

Brewing beer produces carbon dioxide (CO₂), especially during fermentation (the process by which yeast converts sugars into alcohol). Estimates are that fermentation yields three times as much carbon dioxide as is actually needed to produce (including brewing, canning, and bottling) each batch of beer, with up to 15 grams of CO₂ generated per pint of beer brewed. According to the British Beer & Pub Association, over 8 billion pints of beer were consumed in the United Kingdom alone in 2019, contributing to the production of a whole lot of carbon dioxide.

While large, global breweries, with their vast financial resources, have been recapturing and reusing carbon dioxide for a number of years, most craft brewers have considered carbon recapture technology to be prohibitively expensive. They have treated excess CO₂ as waste, and vented it into the atmosphere, though that practice may make little sense, either economically or environmentally since, in order to produce subsequent batches, brewers must then turn around and purchase carbon dioxide to carbonate the beer, purge beer tanks and lines of oxygen, and to transfer the beer from tanks to bottles or cans.

And carbon dioxide purchase is a recurring line-item expense that eats into craft brewers’ profit margins.

Capturing and Reusing Carbon Dioxide

The good news is that recent technological innovations, driven in large part by companies working with NASA on space exploration and investigation, have led entrepreneurs to an awareness that CO₂ recapture may in fact now be seen as a relatively affordable, and certainly environmentally friendly, option for craft breweries. The technology involves capturing the CO₂ that has accumulated during fermentation and purifying the gas to make it suitable for reuse and/or sale.

The Washington Post has reported that Texas-based Earthly Labs has created a product called “CiCi” (for “carbon capture”), a refrigerator-sized unit that enables brewers to trap and reuse accumulated carbon dioxide. Captured CO₂ is piped from the fermentation tanks to a “dryer” to separate water from CO₂gas. The gas is next purified and chilled to a liquid for ease of storage and subsequent use.

Brewers can reuse their stored carbon dioxide to carbonate new batches of beer, as well as in the canning and bottling processes for the new beer. Craft Brewing Business, a trade website dedicated to the business of commercial craft brewing, reports that breweries can reduce monthly carbon dioxide expenses by 50 percent or more, and CO₂ emissions by up to 50%, via carbon capture technology.

Breweries that capture more CO₂ than they can use, may elect to sell the surplus to other breweries, bars, restaurants, and any other businesses that also use carbon dioxide. For instance, the State of Colorado, Earthly Labs, the Denver Beer Co., and The Clinic announced in early 2020 a pilot program in which Denver Beer Co. would sell its surplus CO₂ to The Clinic, a medical and recreational cannabis dispensary, which would then pump the carbon dioxide inside its grow rooms to stimulate and enrich plant growth.

Oxygen Monitors Can Mitigate Unseen Dangers of Carbon Dioxide

Brewers and others working around carbon dioxide need to be aware of the potential risks associated with CO₂. Carbon dioxide is an odorless and colorless oxygen-depleting gas. Since it deprives the air of oxygen, CO₂ use presents a potential health hazard for brewery personnel.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an environment in which oxygen levels fall below 19.5 percent is considered an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and should be treated as immediately dangerous to health or life. When there is not enough oxygen in the air, persons working in the affected area may become disoriented, lose consciousness, or even suffocate due to the lack of sufficient oxygen. Because CO₂ is devoid of odor and color, individuals working around it might well, in the absence of appropriate monitoring equipment, be unaware that a risk situation has developed.

As such, The National Fire Protection Association recommends that gas monitoring equipment be placed in storage areas or any place where carbon dioxide is used or stored.

PureAire Dual O₂/CO₂ Monitors

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PureAire Monitoring Systems’ Dual Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide Monitor offers thorough air monitoring, with no time-consuming maintenance or calibration required. A screen displays current oxygen and carbon dioxide levels for at-a-glance reading by brewery employees, who derive peace of mind from the Monitor’s presence and reliable performance.

In the event of a carbon dioxide leak, and a decrease in oxygen to an unsafe level, PureAire’s Monitor will set off an alarm, complete with horns and flashing lights, alerting brewery personnel to evacuate the area.

PureAire’s Dual Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide Monitor is well-suited for facilities where carbon dioxide is used, such as breweries, bars, and restaurants. Our Dual O₂/CO₂ monitor includes both a non-depleting, zirconium oxide sensor cell, to monitor oxygen levels, and a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensor cell, to monitor carbon dioxide levels. PureAire’s O₂/CO₂ monitors can last, trouble-free, for over 10 years under normal operating conditions.

Saving money, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and ensuring employee safety...that is certainly something to which we can all raise a glass.