BGA244
The BGA244 Binary Gas Analyzer quickly determines the ratio of gases and vapors in a binary mixture.
It's ideal for a host of applications including gas concentration monitoring, vapor concentration monitoring, binary gas blending, PSA (pressure swing adsorption), helium recovery, ozone purity, MOCVD gas monitoring, and general research where precise measurements of gas mixtures are necessary. The BGA244 operates without lasers, filaments, chemical sensors, optical sources, separation columns, reference gases, or reagents, and runs virtually
Traditionally, thermal conductivity based analyzers, or Katharometers, have been used to make these sorts of measurements. These analyzers operate by comparing the thermal conductivity of the measured gas to that of a reference gas. The BGA244 offers dramatic improvement in performance over thermal conductivity based gas analyzers.
—Ten times better accuracy
—Thousand times better stability
—Nearly 500
In addition, the BGA244 can lower the cost of ownership. Most applications don't require any zero or span gas calibration, reducing both installation and maintenance costs. See (Tech note—Comparing Thermal Conductivity Analyzers with the BGA244) for more details on the advantages of the BGA244.
Principle of Operation
The speed of sound in a gas depends on the temperature, specific heat, and the molar mass of the gas. By precisely measuring the speed of sound and temperature in a gas mixture, and knowing the thermodynamic properties and molar masses of the gases, the BGA244 determines the composition of gas mixtures with an accuracy of about 0.1 %.
Operating Modes
The BGA244 has three basic measurement modes: Binary Gas Analyzer, Gas Purity Analyzer, and Physical Measurements Analyzer.
In Binary Gas Analyzer mode, the ratio of two gases is reported. In Gas Purity Analyzer mode, the purity of a single gas is reported. In Physical Measurements mode, the BGA244 reports the speed of sound, temperature, and gas pressure. This extends the BGA244's utility beyond gas analysis, for example, to enable the measurement of thermodynamic properties of gas mixtures.
Gases can be chosen by name, formula, or CAS number on the touchscreen display or over the computer interfaces. In each mode, the BGA244 displays large numeric readouts of the parameters being measured. In the Binary Gas Analyzer and Gas Purity Analyzer modes, a needle graph shows the user-defined operating range in green, and higher and lower limits in red.
Comprehensive Database
Thermodynamic and molar mass data for nearly 500 gases have been tabulated in the BGA244, enabling the instrument to measure tens of thousands of mixtures. Gases can be added to the data tables, as can pseudo-gases (user-defined gas mixtures which are treated as one gas species).
Remarkable Accuracy
The accuracy of the gas composition result depends on the difference in the speed of sound between the gas species. Shown below are the typical composition errors for several gases mixtures.
For measurements requiring greater accuracy, a REL to the dominant gas species can be performed to remove most of the systematic errors. With this, an accuracy of 10 ppm is possible (depending on the gas species). Contact SRS for information on your specific gas mixture.
Operating Pressure
The accuracy of the BGA244 depends on knowing the operating pressure. In many cases, the pressure is stable and can be entered on the front panel or over the computer interfaces. For applications that have varying operating pressures, an external pressure gauge can be easily connected to one of the analog inputs. The BG244 operates over a pressure range that extends from a few psi up to 150 psi.
Heaters, Relays, I/Os & Power
The BGA244 comes equipped with several multipurpose analog I/Os, two user-defined event relays for process control or alarms, and cavity heaters for temperature regulation and condensation prevention. There is an input for an external 24 VDC power supply. Many customers will choose to order the optional
Communication
With the standard RS-232, RS-422 and USB computer interfaces, all instrument functions can be set and queried remotely. The instrument can operate independently or via a host computer. A Windows monitor program, BGAMon, records and displays time records of gas composition, temperature, and pressure. The program also can be used to remotely configure the instrument, copy configurations to multiple instruments, and add user gas information.
BGA244, BGA244HP & BGA244E
The standard BGA244 comes with 1/8"-27 female NPT gas connectors. A wide variety of stainless steel gas fitting adapters are available for interfacing with NPT, VCR, VCO, tube compression, and flexible hose fittings.
The BGA244 can be ordered in several OEM configurations and is priced accordingly. Please call us to discuss your application.
The model BGA244HP High Purity Process Gas Analyzer is designed for use in high purity or corrosive environments. This model comes with
The model BGA244E gas analyzer is a standard BGA244 analyzer installed inside of an
The BGA244 can be used in a very diverse range of applications.
MOCVD gases
Heat treating and welding gas monitoring
Helium & Hydrogen purity measurements
Gas blending
Argon purity
Ozone generation
Industrial gas processes
Ammonia synthesis
Hydrogen and chlorine for chlorine production
Hydrogen and oxygen purity in electrolysis
Purge gas monitoring
Blanketing gas monitoring
Glove boxes
Inerting gases
Food processing gas monitoring
Food packaging gases
