Products>Nitrogen Membranes>Technology - Generon

Since 1985, when the GENERON® high performance air separation membrane was first commercialized by the Dow Chemical Company, the name GENERON has been synonymous with the most efficient, high purity and cost-effective membrane technology on the market for the production of on-site gaseous nitrogen.   That tradition continues now as Generon is part of Innovative Gas Systems, Inc.

The heart of the GENERON® air separation system is the thousands of miles of hollow fiber membranes contained in each GENERON® module; each fiber is made by a patented process to exacting standards.  Each fiber is thinner than a human hair.  The polymer used for GENERON® membranes was selected over thousands of other polymers because of its intrinsic membrane properties that allow for the efficient separation of O2 from N2.

Because of the membrane’s unique gas separation properties, compressed air can be easily stripped of “fast” gases like oxygen and water vapor which quickly permeate the walls of the hollow fibers while the nitrogen molecules remain inside to be delivered as a dry, pressurized, enriched nitrogen stream. GENERON® air separation systems are regarded as being the most efficient membrane system because of the high “selectivity” of our membrane for O2 and N2.  The ratio of the permeation rates of oxygen and nitrogen through a membrane is referred to as its selectivity.  GENERON® membranes have the highest commercially available selectivity for air separation so less nitrogen is lost when stripping out the oxygen from the compressed air stream.  This allows the Generon system to operate with smaller air compressors and lower operating costs than other membrane suppliers.

Membrane systems, in general, are simple in their operation.  Pretreated compressed air is fed into membrane modules where the oxygen is removed from the air leaving a rich nitrogen product stream. The nitrogen purity is controlled simply by adjusting the product flow exiting the module.  The lower the flow, the more complete the removal of oxygen from the stream and the higher purity nitrogen.  Membrane systems can be easily operated at different product purities with lower operating and system costs for lower purity requirements. 

In this way the system can be tailored to deliver the purity that is required even as the application or inerting requirements change.  Since ultra-high purity nitrogen is not needed for a vast majority of process applications, there is no need to pay the high price and endure the inconvenience of delivered liquid N2.

Pioneering R&D efforts are on-going at Generon IGS.  We are continuously striving to improve the performance of our polymer membrane products and working to expand the many applications for our technology.  We have invested heavily into our R&D program and are looking at next generation membrane materials that will go beyond the current polymeric system.  Generon IGS has licensed a ceramic membrane technology from NetMed of Dublin, Ohio, that holds the promise for generating nearly 100% inert gas. While still in its developmental stage, this technology holds the promise for allowing membrane technology to produce essentially O2 free gas at costs well below that available with existing technology.