subject: Alternate Cylinder Fill Technologies [print this page] Dewitt, NY January 19, 2010: A variety of new methods are being used to fill high pressure medical gas cylinders. As with all technologies in the medical gas market, there are compliance issues to be aware of. Pressure/Temperature Filling is the most popular process used to fill high pressure medical gas cylinders and requires a pressure/temperature chart, gauge and thermometer to determine when the cylinders are full. Another method is Gravimetric Filling, which uses a sensitive scale to determine with high accuracy when the cylinders are full. A third method is Automatic Cylinder Filling, which typically uses a gravimetric scale or pressure and temperature transducers to determine when to stop filling. Each of the three processes has compliance implications, including validation status, record keeping, scale calibration, true temperature and more. The decision on which process to use in your cylinder fill plant must include a consideration of these compliance issues. In the current issue of Welding & Gases Today, the journal of the Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA), Thomas L. Badstubner, FDA & Medical Gases Consultant for the Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA), points out specific challenges with each method and the problems that will occur if the processes are not done correctly. Read what Badstubner has to say in Alternate Cylinder Fill Technologies: FDA Compliance Issues at Welding & Gases Today Online, the leading trade journal for the welding, welding equipment, industrial gases, medical gases and specialty gases industry. For more information, contact Carole Jesiolowski, Senior Editor of Welding & Gases Today, at editor@weldingandgasestoday.org or 315-445-2347.
