Protecting America with Specialty GasesWritten by Bob Davis
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New Homeland Security Products Today we are asked with increasing frequency to develop calibration gases for a new type of application. The U.S. military and numerous instrument manufacturers now ask us to develop calibration gases for instruments that are currently used or under development for detection and defense against various CWAs that enemy forces might use against us. Hence, Scott is developing a growing line of Homeland Security Products. Some of these are “standard” mixtures such as cyanogen chloride, phosgene and hydrogen cyanide. Other times our R&D and Technical Services groups work with customers to develop custom products to meet highly specialized application requirements. Frankly speaking, considering their application, Homeland Security gas mixtures are products we’d just as soon not make. But need for them is very real and so in addition to markets we’ve traditionally served, we now also focus our technology on creating dependable products to help defend and protect our country. Let’s all hope for a time when we can retire these products as being no longer needed.
For more information about Scott Homeland Security gas mixtures, contact our Technical Services group at 800-21-SCOTT.
| | How to Ensure Quality Control with CO2 Analytical SupportWritten by Leanne Merz
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•Your CO2 supplier should provide certification and analysis indicating compliance with commercial quality standards, such as ISBT, International Society of Beverage Technologists •Your quality assurance service company should have resources available to create custom gas mixtures for CO2 ingredient quality control. Typical components include (but are not limited to) following: Methane Ethane Ethanol Dimethyl Ether Ethyl Acetate Methanol AmmoniaNitric Oxide Nitrogen Dioxide Carbonyl Sulfide Acetaldehyde BenzeneCyclohexane Ethylbenzene Diethyl Ether Toluene m-Xylene p-Xylene o-Xylene •Preparing two sets of gas mixtures should be standard procedure for your chosen service company, with double analysis of each set to check for minor component stability, and guarantee a shelf life for components. •To further assure accurate results, your service company should identify inaccuracies and verify analytical processes by having participant labs analyze blind internal audit standards. •Your service company should furnish a report to your company's quality control department detailing analytical results, including a statistical representation of performance of each participant laboratory. •Membership in International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT) Quality Committee, Carbon Dioxide Subcommittee, should be maintained in order to keep abreast of emerging analytical methods and technologies within beverage industry. •Top of line service companies will provide CO2 Cross–Referencing Services to confirm accuracy of critical analytical processes. These programs provide beverage manufacturers with a reliable and objective method of monitoring performance of multiple laboratories who qualify carbon dioxide used in carbonated beverages as well as confirm ingredient quality. Cross-Referencing Service should be considered in order to: oAchieve highest degree of confidence in accuracy of analyses; oConfidentially identify inconsistencies or other problems in analytical processes; and oMaintain reliable and accurate intra-company quality assurance. •Most importantly, make sure service company has top rate Internal CO2 Audit Standards to meet most demanding accuracy requirements for virtually any type of customized mixture and that a Certificate of Accuracy is provided for each cylinder. By choosing a Quality Control Specialty Gas Service carefully, your company can be sure to keep pace with ever-expanding list of regulations -- and quite possibly gain an even larger piece of this multi-billion dollar pie.
Leanne Merz is Director of e-Commerce and Technical Services of Scott Specialty Gases, a leading global manufacturer of specialty gases located in Plumsteadville, PA. More information on the company can be found at http://www.scottgas.com.
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