Advanced Research Manufacturing - ARM Inc.

Below is the press release announcing AES's acquisition of ARM Inc. We at ARM are very pleased with this outcome, and look forward to the future with AES!

ARM has completed testing, as is readying for shipment a multi-technology Xenon purifier. Designed to meet customer supplied specifications it utilizes multiple catalyst vessels and adsorber vessels (5 vessels in all) and includes real time O2 level monitoring.

Cabinet 1 (leftmost) houses the inlet valves, Xe purge plumbing, sample points, PLC and control hardware, and the inlet O2 level real time monitoring. Cabinet 2 houses the 3 heated catalyst vessels. Cabinet 3 houses a couple of ambient temp vessels and valves for catalyst vessel regeneration.


As 2 of the 3 catalyst vessels operate at temperatures well beyond what is typical for heated catalyst purifiers, ARM used Thermco furnaces and standard Thermco controls to maintain operating temperatures. Note the cooling coils between cabinet 2 and 3, theses were highlighted in the last newsletter (test data is presented in the article below).

The purifier removes SF6, CF4, C2F6, H20, hydrocarbons, H2, and CO2 at a nominal flow of 25 CFH, up to 90 CFH max. Lifetime expectation of the non-regenerable vessel is 4 years of 24/7 operation at 90 CFH and 100 ppm inlet impurity load.

If you have need for purifying Xenon or any other Rare gas, contact ARM with your performance specifications and we will be happy to quote a solution.

This month's technical article is contributed by Brian Warrick, VP of Technology at ARM Inc. Just how clean is my gas and how pure do I need it? These are questions I've been asked many times throughout the years and the simple answer is that it's better than the manufacturers specification, but it's also inconsistent purity.

Over the next few months, we'll examine how gases are made and discuss why purification is important. This article will focus on atmospheric gases, specifically, nitrogen, oxygen, argon,
and trace rare gases.

Future articles will review hydrogen, hydrocarbon gases, carbon dioxide, helium, and sub-atmospheric and other specialty gases.
The air we breathe is not one homogenous mixture, but rather varies depending on location. In urban areas, contaminates such as NOx, CO, SOx, CH4, etc. may be present in the air to such
an extent that layers of smog are visible. In rural areas, the air may be pristine. Air is comprised primarily of nitrogen gas, followed by oxygen. These two elements comprise approximately 98%
of the air we breathe. Other, trace compounds make up the remainder. In urban areas, the 3 pollutants discussed above may pass through the air separation process and end up
concentrated in your gas.

How is Air Separated?

Three common methods of air separation are membrane use, vacuum and/or pressure swing adsorption (VPSA/PSA), and cryogenically.

Membrane style generators are simple, but can only create nitrogen with purity up to 99%. Another way of thinking of this is that in every 1,000,000 molecules of nitrogen rich gas generated, 10,000 molecules will be other components. That doesn't sound like very much, but in precision device manufacturing, the presence of even a few molecules of other gas may impact performance and yield.

Figure 1 demonstrates how a membrane generator works. Think of a membrane generator as a tube packed with rigatoni. If the tube of packed rigatoni is now filled with vodka sauce, some of the sauce will move through (or permeate) to the outer pasta wall and move to the opposite side. In this example, the portion of sauce which permeates through the pasta represents pure vodka. So, we start off with sauce entering one side of the tube and have pure vodka exiting the other. It's not the most efficient method, but it's not complex and relatively low cost.

In the same manner, air enters a tube packed with hollow fibers and nitrogen and oxygen are separated by the fibers. The remaining gas is swept away to vent. While the gas exiting the
membrane contains some oxygen and other impurities, it is pure enough for applications such as: food packaging, beverage dispensing, tire filling, and general purpose inerting.

Figure 1: Membrane Separation

VPSA/PSA systems are more complex than membranes, but offer more improved pressure and purity performance. Some systems offer purity to 99.9%. Figure 2 shows us the PSA method of separation.

Two or more packed beds are filled with a zeolite and operated in parallel. Air flows through one bed and oxygen or nitrogen is held-up or adsorbed within the zeolite. As the zeolite becomes full, gas flow shifts to another packed bed, while the first bed is regenerated. Regeneration is accomplished by rapidly reducing pressure and possibly introducing a vacuum within the bed. This
style of separation uses alternating beds in which one or more are on-line while others are being regenerated.

Figure 2: PSA Separation

A third method of air separation is cryogenics. Figure 3 is shows the inner working of a cryogenic plant in which feed air is sufficiently chilled to liquefy oxygen, nitrogen, as well as argon. Liquid gases are typically 99.9% and higher purity. This style of separation relies on the boiling point, which is the temperature at which a gas changes phase to a liquid. Within a cryogenic separator, liquid nitrogen flows down a tall packed column while air passes up through the column.

Figure 3: Cryogenic Separation

Since air is comprised of many gases, it stands to reason that the gases which makeup air will liquefy at different points along the column. Industrial gas suppliers use this principle to separate nitrogen, oxygen, and argon from air and store these in large containers (see Figure 4). The cryogen is then delivered to end users.

Your industrial gas supplier likely has many air separation plants throughout the country. Some plants are located in heavy industrial areas and others in rural locations.

We opened this article by asking "how pure is your gas". We now know that there are varying separation methods for nitrogen, oxygen, and argon and that purity may vary from method to method. Purity will also vary from cryogenic plant to plant. Nitrogen from plants in highly urban areas will have higher levels of carbon monoxide than rural areas and oxygen levels will vary with plant
efficiency. Therefore, the purity of product delivered to your tank may vary with every delivery. While product delivered will meet your specifications, the product in your tank will likely have
inconsistent purity over time.

Laboratory, pharmaceutical, and electronic manufacturers typically require 99.999% purity or higher and many of these applications use liquid gases. In many of these applications, product consistency is the key to ensuring their manufactured product or report is accurate. Inconsistencies in gas can impact device performance and yield, which directly impacts profit margins and shareholder expectations.

Figure 4: Merchant Style Plant

Purification is a solution for inconsistent gases. ARM offers a wide range of media specifically selected for your applications. From reducing moisture in a gas stream to trapping krypton ang xenon in argon, ARM has a product to fit your needs.

Tune in next month as we'll dig deeper into cryogenic separation and focus on the boiling point of individual gases as opposed to this month high level view.

Questions/Comments? Contact Brian at 719-538-5959 or [email protected]

Contact: Steve Wright
North America Sales Manager
ARM, Inc.
Colorado Springs, CO USA
Office 719/538-5959, Fax 719/538-5960, Cell 613/852-1874
[email protected] www.arminc.com

ARM, INC. ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH FULCRUM TECHNOLOGIES, INC

ARM, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Fulcrum Technologies as its Eastern US Distributor for its point-of-use purifier product line, including the popular Nova and Pro-Panel series purifiers. Fulcrum Technologies, Inc. is a stocking distributor company serving the microelectronics, nanotechnology, bio-pharmaceutical industries since 1986.

"Fulcrum Technologies, Inc. has extensive sale experience and technical knowledge in high purity gas purification equipment and processes. We are very pleased to be working with Fulcrum in the eastern US, and are looking forward to sustained growth in both sales and brand recognition in their territory" said Steve Wright, North American Sales Manager for ARM, Inc.

ARM Inc. designs and manufactures high purity gas purifiers and associated gas handling equipment for the semiconductor, energy, medical and pharmaceutical markets in the US and around the world.

ARM, Inc. [email protected]
View web page www.arminc.com
View Fulcrum web page www.fulcrumtechinc.com

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