A nitrogen generator can produce nitrogen for around GBP 0.05/m3, making it cost effective to widen the range of parts laser cut using it as an assist gas.

Considering that nitrogen makes up 78% of the air we breathe, it can come as a shock to laser users that purchasing the gas may account for 66% of their hourly running costs, according to Manufacturing Service Solutions (MSS), a specialist in laser cutting technology. With the aim of offering dramatic reductions in the cost and inconvenience of purchased gas, the company has reached an agreement with domnick hunter for the exclusive distribution of its range of nitrogen generation equipment for laser cutting applications in the UK. The partnership between domnick hunter, which has ten manufacturing plants and 25 trading subsidiaries worldwide, and MSS, which has been offering Nitrogen Generation equipment for several years, has been highly valued by customers.

In the first nine months of 2006, MSS has installed 12 systems in the UK, double its total target for 2005, by combining domnick hunter's extensive knowledge of gas generation with its skill and experience in the laser cutting industry.

For companies cutting stainless steel, thinner carbon steel and aluminium alloys, using nitrogen as the assist gas is a well proven technology, avoiding problems such as dross formation and oxidation of the cut edge.

The trend towards higher power lasers, necessary for cutting with nitrogen, has increased gas consumption, and until recently the choice for consumers has principally been between manifold cylinder packs and bulk storage, a decision fuelled by concerns over gas pressure and purity.

The nitrogen generators, supplied by MSS, filter nitrogen from the air, and compress it at 42 bar into either a bulk storage tank, or a manifold cylinder pack, giving a flow rate which is sufficient to run up to three laser machines simultaneously.

Graham Ackerman, managing director of Bridport based Ackerman Engineering said, 'We were on a fortnightly gas delivery schedule and if we ran out early we incurred high costs due to machine downtime and charges for rearranged delivery'.

'With in-house nitrogen generation we are able to achieve continuous use of our 4.4kW Bystronic Byspeed.

Additionally, it is now economic for us to use nitrogen on more jobs, which produces a much better edge quality, cuts down on edge cleaning for subsequent welding or painting operations, and results in happier customers.' Generated gas purity with nitrogen generation can be up to 99.995%.

However, these purity levels are unnecessary for the majority of applications.

Investigations have shown that using low purity levels of 99.95% on 3mm stainless steel will produce an edge quality indistinguishable from one, cut using bottled gas.

Similarly, raising purity levels to 99.99% will produce the same results for 6mm stainless steel.

Martin Cook, Director at Cutting Technologies commented, 'Prior to purchase of our ErreDue Nitrogen Generator, also supplied by MSS, we carried out tests with our customers, and they were happy with the edge quality for generator settings below 150ppm oxygen.

We run at 90ppm and achieve flow rates of over 70Nm3/hour from our generator.

Since its installation in November 2005 it has supplied our two laser machines with no 'gas outs' or breakdowns and we have never had to supplement the supply with bottled gas.' Payback on the investment was an important factor for Border Precision.

John Roche, sheet metal manufacturing engineer said, 'We were changing nitrogen packs three or four times per week.

The Nitrogen Generator has reduced the downtime caused by waiting for packs, and we now never run out of gas during the night shift.

With one laser machine our payback was less than three years, now that we have a second the payback is even shorter.' The domnick hunter generators supplied by MSS are fully expandable.

If the customer adds extra laser machines, gas generation can be increased by simply adding further Maxigas banks.

Roche added, 'The modular gas generation unit was an important factor, ensuring that the system would be able to grow alongside our requirements.' Carlos Gonzalez-Lee, managing director of MSS concluded, 'A nitrogen generator can produce nitrogen for around GBP 0.05/m3, making it cost effective to widen the range of parts cut using it as an assist gas.

Not only does this result in faster cutting times and lower gas costs, but it also produces higher quality parts, increasing our customer's competitive edge.' * About Manufacturing Service Solutions - based in Rugby, Warwickshire, UK, MSS is a privately owned company formed in 2003 by Gonzalez-Lee.

His research and experience in laser cutting, and the absence of an independent specialist laser company in the UK, provided the springboard for the company's growth.

Its core business is servicing and sales of all types of refurbished laser cutting machines.