Agilent Nitrogen Generators utilize prefilters to protect the membrane from oil, water and solids usually

found in compressed air.

Prefiltration is comprised of two stages of Balston coalescing filters and are efficient to 99.99% at 0.01.
Wet, dirty compressed air flows through the Balston microfibre filter tube from the inside to the outside.
Liquid releases from the filter tube to an automatic drain as rapidly as it enters the filter. This allows the
filters to continue removing liquids for an unlimited time without the loss of efficiency or flow capacity.
Solid particles are permanently trapped on the inner surface and throughout the depth of the Balston
microfibre filter tube.
The outlet air is free from virtually all liquids and solids.

Agilent Nitrogen Generators utilize Selective Permeation Membranes to separate nitrogen from
compressed air. These membranes are made into long, thin, hollow, fibers. Thousands of fibers are
combined to make a bundle and used to separate compressed air. Each bundle contains several miles of
fiber.

Compressed air is made up of many components. The most common are nitrogen, oxygen, CO 2, H2O
and argon. Selective permeation membranes are designed to allow “faster” gasses (ie: oxygen, CO 2, H2O
and others) to permeate the membrane wall. At the end of the fiber the gas produced has a high
concentration of nitrogen. By controlling the flowrate the generator is able to produce purities of up to
99.94% nitrogen. The lower the flow, the higher the purity.
The Difference Between Particulate and Coalescing Filters

Particulate Filtration is the removal of solid particles from a gas or liquid. The liquid or gas flows through
the element from the outside to inside to maximise the service life.

Particulate filter flow path – outside to inside through the filter element
The size of the particle removed depends upon the grade of the filter element and we can offer a size
range from very high efficiency 0.1 micron grades to 200 micron.
Coalescing Filtration is the separation of two ‘phases’, for example the removal of water aerosols and
droplets from a gas. Using a coalescing filter element installed in a housing with three ports, the wet gas
sample passes though element inside to outside. The inner capture layer is a high efficiency coalescing
layer and the outer is a coarser drainage layer.

Coalescing filter flow path – inside to outside through the filter element
The fine fibres of the inner layer capture the fine liquid aerosols and droplets and they run together along
the fibres to form large drops within the depth of the element. These large drops are then forced to the
outside of the filter element and then drain to the bowl of the housing by gravity.

Coalescing filter elements will also remove particulates at the same efficiency as particulate type
elements of the same grad, but the opposite can not be done so do not use a particulate element for the use
of a coalescing element

Gas separation concept

The operation of membrane systems is based on the principle of differential velocity with which various
gas mixture components permeate membrane substance. The driving force in the gas separation process is
the difference in partial pressures on different membrane sides
Membrane cartridge

Flux distribution inside the fiber

Structurally, a hollow-fiber membrane represents a cylindrical cartridge functioning as a spool with
specifically reeled polymer fibers. Gas flow is supplied under pressure into a bundle of membrane fibers.
Due to the difference in partial pressures on the external and internal membrane surface gas flow
separation is accomplished.
NITROGEN MEMBRANE PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
Refer to Figure 2 below. Compressed air flows into the hollow fiber membrane. Various air components,
such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor pass through the membrane wall, but the rate at
which this occurs differs for the various gases. Oxygen and water vapor have a high diffusion rate and
diffuse rapidly through the membrane wall. Nitrogen has a low diffusion rate and penetrates the
membrane wall slowly, mainly at the end of the hollow fibers. The purity of the nitrogen at the end of the
fibers depends on the velocity of the gas flow. The nitrogen capacity of the membrane depends on the
flow rate, operating temperature and operating pressure of the compressor.