subject: Uses For Specialty And Calibration Gases [print this page] Whether you are familiar with them or not, specialty and calibration gases play a very large role in your life. Specialty or calibration gases or cal gases as some call them help monitor processes that govern our lives and keep us safe. A specialty gas or calibration gas is simply a mixture of gases that is used to calibrate a gas chromatograph. A gas chromatograph is an instrument very common in the field of analytical chemistry that analyzes samples of liquids or gases and breaks a mixture down into it's individual components and also quantifies them. Gas and liquid mixtures are used to calibrate them. Cal gases serve two roles in analytical chemistry. First, they reveal the elution time for certain chemicals with respect to a certain set of parameters on a Gas Chromatograph (GC). Additionally, they help set response factors that allow the quantification of identified peaks in a mixture sample. So, what are some examples where cal gases used to calibrate GC's influence our lives behind the scenes?
Commodities. Natural gas prices is the first and most common example. The pricing of natural gas is determined by the components in natural gas as well as their concentrations. BTU reference standards a prepared by chemists using known components and known concentration of those components carefully measured out so as to prepare a reference standard of known component identification, concentration as well as known BTU value per cubic foot of gas. BTU reference standards such as this are use to monitor and price the gas that passes through pipelines and ultimately to our homes.
Safety. Calibration gases are use to monitor atmospheres that are worked in by plant employees, city workers and personnel entering into confined spaces. Of the most common types of monitoring is monitoring for Hydrogen Sulfide, Carbon Monoxide, the Lower Explosive Limit of fuel type gases such as natural gas and gasoline fumes, as well as oxygen in a potentially oxygen deficient atmosphere such as is common in confined space entry jobs such as tank maintenance.
Environmental Science. Industry can be a very dirty business if it is not controlled responsibility. Many industrial facilities have the potential to release very harmful chemical into the environment if not remediated properly before release. Incineration is the most common method of remediation in the chemical industry, particularly in sectors of the petrochemical industry. Reference standards referred to as "refinery gas" standards are used to monitor the components and concentrations of potentially harmful gases before they are incinerated. The point of incineration is referred to as a flare. A flare converts the majority of harmful chemical so simple carbon dioxide and water, very similar to what you breathe out when you exhale. In the specialty and calibration gas industry, reference standards are formulated so as to calibrate GC's specifically set up to analyze refinery gas or flue gas as it is referred to by some.
Chemistry is a fascinating field of study. Specialty gas is only a slice of this fascinating field of study. If you are interested in science, chemistry is a great avenue to pursue.
