MBraun Technical Guide

MBraun Technical Guide

This guide leads you through gloveboxes and inert gas technology:

Themes:
Basic Components of an MBraun Glovebox
Gas Purification Principle
Operating Gases
Purity
Vacuum Pump
MBraun System Characteristics

Basic Components of an MBraun Glovebox

The basic components of a standard workstation are:

G	Glove Box Vacuum-tight stainless steel working space.
GP	Glove Ports / Gloves Butyl gloves for comfortable working.
A	Antechamber(s) For material transfer.
VP	Vacuum Pump(s) See item "Vacuum Pump".
P	Gas Purification System See item "Gas Purification Principle".
PLC	PLC Control For central controlling and monitoring of the system.

Gas Purification Principle

Standard MBraun inert gas systems are operated in accordance with the principles of circulation. The gas continuously circulates between the glove box and the gas purification system. The gas is purified to a value of < 1 ppm in relation to moisture and Oxygen. The PLC unit controls and monitors the circulation process.

Circulation principle (main components):

G	Gas flow Circulation between box and purifier.
F	Exhaust filter Inlet/outlet of the circulation tubes are protected by aerosol filters. The filters supply particle-free atmosphere and separate the box from the purifier(s) and tubes.
V	Valves Electropneumatic valves, PLC controlled.
P	Purifier Unit (regenerable) Oxygen: Chemical binding at polydisperse copper. Moisture (water vapor): Adsorption in microporous molecular sieve. Other gases: All gases that react with Cu or CuO as well as gases that fit into the 13 Å holes of the molecular sieve.
B	Blower (circulation unit) Performs the circulation of gas flow; it is encapsulated in a vacuum-tight container. The three-phase motor is driven by a frequency converter. The frequency converter allows the power regulation of the blower and has an integrated motor protection.
C	Cooling (heat exchanger) Electric heat as well as compression heat increases the gas temperature.

Operating Gases

Working Gas:
Nitrogen, Argon or Helium

Regeneration Gas:
Mixture Nitrogen with 10 % Hydrogen

Purge Gas (for first time system setup):
Working gas

Purity

Reachable purity in MBraun gloveboxes:

< 1 ppm Oxygen (1 cm³ Oxygen in 1 m³ box volume)
< 1 ppm moisture (1 µl water vapor in 1 m³ box volume)

Additional Information:
In free air the concentration of Oxygen is 209000 ppm.
In free air the concentration of water is 12100 ppm (10 °C DP).
Therefore the box has to be "vacuum-tight".
Still there is some diffusion through plastic and rubber.

Vacuum Pump

The vacuum pump is an essential device for the operation of the system:

- to evacuate the system
- to reduce the box pressure
- for final cleaning of the purifiers at the end of the regeneration cycle

MBraun System Characteristics

Typical characteristics of an MBraun glovebox system:

- high-quality processing
- high-quality material
- PLC controlled
- customer oriented
- innovative
- efficient
- reliable
- service-friendly
- state of the art
- ISO 9001-2000 certified company

Gloveboxes, Solvent Purification Systems, Thin Film Deposition Systems, Gas Purifiers, and more.