Estimate How Much You Can Save With the Thermo Scientific He-Saver-H2Safer Injector

The Thermo Scientific HeSaver-H₂Safer kit for the Thermo Scientific iConnect SSL injector module is a unique patented technology that saves helium gas around-the-clock. It uses helium (or hydrogen) carrier gas only to feed the analytical column (a few mL/min) and uses nitrogen for splitting the sample, which is the primary source of gas consumption.

The energy savings with the HeSaver SSL technology depends on the method used and the split flow used in the method. In standard conditions, the HeSaver-H2Safer technology results in 72% percent gas savings and a 3.5x extension of cylinder lifetime.

The HeSaver-H₂Safer technology for SSL significantly reduces carrier gas consumption. Any iConnect Split/Splitless (SSL) injector module mounted on a Thermo Scientific Trace 1600 GC-MS can be easily upgraded with a self-installable kit to be used as a HeSaver-H₂Safer injector. This technology helps to significantly reduce the total carrier gas consumption of both helium and hydrogen (depending on which carrier gas is used in your method). Essentially, you’ll use the valuable carrier gas only to feed the column while using a cheaper gas for maintaining the septum purge and split flow, which represents the majority of gas consumption.

Helium saver technology does not impact sensitivity in any way. The acceptance criteria for Dioxin analysis include: quantification and confirmation ions that must be within .001 min retention time tolerance; ion ratios that must be within 15%; and the average relative response time that must be within 20%. All these criteria were met with the helium saver technology.

Carrier gas separates and analyzes quickly while preserving the sample integrity. For standalone gas chromatographs, hydrogen is the most recommended option for replacing helium because it offers very high efficiency in a short period of time.

Hydrogen is a very powerful, less expensive carrier gas than helium. It’s also renewable and readily available to laboratories since it can be generated on site using a hydrogen generator. From a chromatography perspective, it has low viscosity and high diffusivity offering high separation efficiency in a shorter analysis time. It’s an ideal gas to be combined with short and narrow bore columns. Hydrogen is compatible with FID and other conventional detectors. When hydrogen is used with the HeSaver-H₂Safer technology, it can eliminate safety risks (even in cases of high split ratio), as well as possible side reactions into the hot injector.

HeSaver-H₂Safer technology eliminates safety risk due to possible accumulation of hydrogen into the GC oven. Since the maximum flow rate is limited, there’s no chance for the carrier gas to reach hazardous concentrations—even in the event of column breakage. Also, no hydrogen is discharged into the ambient air through the split or purge lines, and there’s no interaction with the sample into the hot injector.

When we use the helium saver versus the regular split/splitless, we save 7.5 times the amount of helium. Assuming your lab is doing 24/7 analysis for the entire year, the helium cylinder will last for 1.8 years, compared to 3 months with the regular split/splitless method. This is a considerable resource and cost savings.