Introducing 72.2 Certified ZAM™ from Air Liquide America Specialty Gases. This amazing new product is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a loco….

…okay, maybe not so much.

It’s just that I’m sitting here in my comfy new leather recliner (always wanted one), and with the spirit of holidays and vacation days still upon me, it’s easy to… well, get a tad carried away.

The reality is that if you use ZAM, you won’t be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. I suspect you already knew that. BTW the name ZAM stands for “zero air material.” It basically comes in two different flavors: zero air and zero nitrogen. And if you’re an acid rain utility, you must use one or the other (some use air and some prefer nitrogen)—basically because the EPA says you must.

It’s all there in 40 CFR Part 75, which calls for a continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMs) to be exposed to what they call zero air material. This in order to qualify the accuracy of the monitoring instrument. Part 75.21 states that calibration gases used must meet characteristics that are delineated in 40 CFR Part 72.2.

Sound complicated? It’s not really, except that some CEMs users use standard EPA protocol mixtures thinking this will satisfy the requirement. Trouble is, this practice can lead to inaccurate calibration due to biased zero readings arising from contamination in the mixture. And inaccurate calibration leads to inaccurate emissions measurement and reporting—which, as we all know, is definitely not a good thing.

The bottom line: to minimize the likelihood of faulty CEMs calibration, it’s better to use a zero material that is certified to feature all of the low contaminant levels that are specified in 40 CFR Part 72.2. Umm…. that would be Scott™ brand ZAM from Air Liquide America Specialty Gases. Who else? While you won’t be leaping any higher, and you may not exactly be leaping for joy at the guaranteed purity of this stuff, you will be protecting and defending your CEMs against biased zero readings.

Once again, it’s Air Liquide’s Scott brand gas mixtures to the rescue!

Arrrghh!

That typo on ‘gases’ wasn’t the editor’s only error. (Me being a writer who repeatedly proves his inadequacy at proofreading his own work–happily I have a crackerjack project manager cum proofreader who saves my bacon every time–I’m willing to let the typo slide.)

Now, about that comment about being down to three players in the US gas marketplace: this makes it sound as if, assuming Air Products is successful with its uninvited offer to purchase Airgas, you’re pretty much gonna have to get your gas from AP or Prax. AS IF. Not by a long shot, a short shot or any other kind of shot.

Way back at the beginning of the year when the nasty business of the takeover began to cook, several members of the journalistic world speculated that (guess who) Air Liquide would be the only other gas company with the financial resources to possibly make a bid for Airgas. That’s not too bad for being a “hardly-worth-mentioning” supplier of industrial and specialty gases in the United States marketplace.

Air Liquide of course has passed on that opportunity. As our Chief Executive, Benoît Potier, stated back in February, “The question doesn’t really come up in the sense that our strategy is one of expansion in emerging countries and in new markets, or essentially in growing markets.”

One of the ways Air Liquide has grown the U.S. market was through acquisition of Scott Specialty Gases, which was the largest producer of EPA protocols and a well-known world supplier of other high-end specialty gases. These gas mixtures, still produced using original Scott technology, are being marketing under the SCOTT™ brand name in Europe, Asia and South America as well as in North America.

Another is the recent Air Liquide Large Industries U.S. LP acquisition of assets and business activities of Lion Copolymer Geismar Services (LCGS), an industrial utilities provider based in Louisiana’s Geismar basin, near Baton Rouge. This complements Air Liquide’s already strong presence in the Geismar basin, which is anchored by two large air separation units producing oxygen and nitrogen for supply via the company’s expansive Mississippi River Pipeline System.

I won’t get into how ALASG is part of a global team of some 43,000 members operating in over 70 countries. Regardless of how the Airgas/Air Products issue shakes out, Air Liquide IS and will remain a major world supplier of industrial and specialty gases for virtually any application imaginable, and that includes in the good ole USA.

IGAL™ Insulated Window Filling System

I remember driving down Interstate 95 some years ago and seeing a billboard for a new computer called the iMac. Being a Mac kind of guy, there was no doubt in my mind that Apple was on the leading edge of personal computers, not only ease-of-use-operating-system-wise, but also in sheer attractive and sexy design. It got me to thinking… and right then and there I should have known better.

At that time, as Scott Specialty Gases, we were not only the largest supplier of EPA protocol gases, we were quite literally defining the leading edge in the production of high accuracy mixtures that virtually guaranteed accurate measurement of all that nasty effluent various industries emit into our atmosphere. Okay, so it isn’t the most glamorous way to make a buck, but hey, someone has to help keep our planet green. In addition to these protocol calibration gases, we had a really slick online supply management system called eScott™ that offered numerous real time, online tools to further help our customer comply with various environmental regulations.

Seeing that billboard, what suddenly crystallized in my mind was a unique “bundle” of environmental products and services that was just crying out to be marketed as iComply. And so I busily crafted persuasive copy presenting the Scott all-inclusive offer to acid rain utilities and various other industries. I had big plans for an extensive marketing campaign, complete with trade advertising, trade show graphics and assorted collateral materials. I even ordered giveaway trinkets emblazoned with an iComply logo. Oh, I tell you, for several days I could scarcely see my reflection in a mirror without seeing the word GENIUS stenciled on my forehead–right up to the time when the VP to whom I reported nixed my entire idea. He told me that iComply was a nonsensical name that no one would understand.

Look, sometimes you just know certain things. I knew… I KNEW… my boss was wrong. I knew he was DEAD wrong. I’m thinkin’ the creative folks in Cupertino would’ve enjoyed a pretty darn good belly laugh over his foolishness, especially when you consider it was the “Bondi Blue” iMac that ushered in a new era of profitability for Apple. Enlightened as I was at the time, even I didn’t realize just how wrong my boss was. I’ve learned to pick and choose the battles I fight in the work place. This wasn’t one of them, but in retrospect it should have been.

12 years later finds me finishing a datasheet for a product we call IGAL™. It’s a new and rather unique system that window manufacturers can use to fill insulated windows with pure krypton, xenon, argon or rare/noble* gas mixtures. IGAL’s major claim to fame is that it is substantially more efficient than other systems currently in use. It allows window manufacturers to save a great deal of rare gas during production–and since rare gases are quite pricey, that translates into BIG $$$ savings.

The product name refers to Insulated Glass and Air Liquide. (We really love acronyms here at Air Liquide.) And unlike some of our acronyms, it makes makes a lot of sense. There is also somewhat of a tie to the electronics “i-world” because it’s the electronics and operating system inside the IGAL box that give rise to the product’s efficiency. One minor problem: our company prefers the French pronunciation, so that ‘eye-gal’ comes out sounding ‘E-gal‘.

Arghhh, I can’t seem to win at this i-business. I know darn well that customers and prospective customers alike, with their iPhone in one hand and iPad or iPod in the other, are going to say iGal… just as naturally as they say iTunes… just as naturally as they would have said iComply. I’m just sayin’.

—————————————-

*Noble gases are odorless and colorless and exhibit a very low level of chemical reactivity. The six noble gases that occur naturally are argon (Ar), helium (He), krypton (Kr), neon (Ne), radon (Rn) which is radioactive and xenon (Xe).

Most marketers know the power of the money-back guarantee. When a consumer is teetering on the buy-don’t-buy fence, the money-back guarantee is often compelling enough to result in a sale. So it makes for good marketing strategy, especially when you consider that statistics show how most consumers never bother to file a claim on that money-back promise, even if dissatisfied with the product. Go figure.

That’s in the B to C world, but does it work when marketing B to B? Considering this lousy economy in which nearly every company on the planet (including our customers and prospective customers) is struggling to remain competitive AND reasonably profitable, we’re thinking it can’t hurt. This is why we recently introduced a program we call ALeviate.  It “alleviates” any concerns a potential customer may have regarding our products or services by offering a 100% refund within 60 days of purchase.

Is this risky for us? Not really. Our QC and analysis procedures are such that we make very, very sure that our mixtures are well within the proper specifications. However, let’s say for the sake of argument that we delivered, say, an EPA protocol mixture that was somehow out of spec. Firstly, shame on us, because as the leading supplier of this type of gas mixture, we’re the best in the world at making them. But let’s face it, mistakes can happen, so if it DID happen, we’d surely make good on it by supply a replacement free of charge–no ifs, ands, or buts.

This sort of product assurance is reactive. ALeviate takes matters to a higher level by making our assurance proactive. It highlights, up front, that we have great confidence in our ability to not only supply pure gases and gas mixtures that satisfy our customer’s application need, but also in our ability to service their account in a fashion that makes them feel good about their decision to select us as their supplier.

Essentially it amounts to being a performance challenge; a self-imposed test of our product and service quality. This has to say something in the mind of a customer who may be considering choosing Air Liquide versus some other gas supplier.

A revitalized logo dressed up with a trademark symbol; now representing our brand of mixtures instead of the company

Until a few years ago we were Scott Specialty Gases, and had been since the 60s. We were privately owned, about 500 people strong and had earned a reputation in the spec gas industry for making gas mixtures that were dead-on accurate. For those of you who aren’t completely sure of what people do with spec gas: they mostly calibrate instruments with them. That or make stuff, like semiconductors. Unless you know the EXACT composition of the gas mix you use to calibrate your instrument, you won’t be sure your instrument is giving you accurate readings. Make sense?

If you’re an Acid Rain utility calibrating a Continuous Emission Monitor (CEM) and your numbers are bogus, you risk serious fines levied by the EPA, not to mention really bad press and maybe even jail time. If you’re calibrating a detector used to detect toxic gas before entering a manhole (excuse me: personhole—old habits die hard), inaccurate calibration can quite literally be a matter of life and death. Thus, it’s why we at Scott took the makings of our spec gas VERY seriously, and why we enjoyed the reputation of being a (if not THE) world leader in specialty gases.

That’s also why when Air Liquide went into expansion mode, they set their sights on acquiring Scott. Eventually the timing became right. Park City ski slopes were calling our owner, who was already well into retirement age, and I guess the $$$ was right, and so a deal was cut. Mind you, I said we were less than 500 people strong in the US, UK and Netherlands. Air Liquide had at the time about 42,000 employees throughout over 70 countries. (Latest count is 43,000 in 75 countries.) Now I ask you, what would YOU think in this situation?

In many cases when a really big fish eats a small one, in short order, there’s no trace left of what had been a viable entity that had been swimming along quite nicely on its own. We all thought we were toast, or more in keeping with the metaphor, lunch… a tasty, easy to digest lunch. One day Scott is happily producing gases and plugging along; next day, GONE!

It didn’t happen that way.

As Scott we’d done battle in the marketplace with a number of companies. Air Liquide however was rarely among our serious competition. In many parts of Europe, Air Liquide is practically a household word. They’ve been around for over 100 years! Not so in the States. In addition, they just weren’t real savvy at making some of the more complicated gas mixtures. Nothing disparaging meant against Air Liquide, but they couldn’t hold a candle to us, none of our competitors could when it came to gas mixtures. AL was very good at most other things, just not the specialty mixtures end of things.

Because Air Liquide was/is so good at most other things gaseous, acquiring Scott was a no-brainer. They didn’t buy a competitor simply to increase their market share, they bought our technology, Scott technology, the very BEST technology in the specialty gas industry. And because of that, the powers-that-be made the conscious decision (and a rather wise one if you ask me) to adopt Scott mixture technology rather than let it become assimilated into Air Liquide modus operandi. As the song goes: ain’t THAT a kick in the head. There were actually times when some people were wondering who bought whom.

Recognizing the Scott name was so well-connected with accuracy and quality in the spec gas community, it was applied as a brand name to most of our mixture products. Our Chief Technology Officer, a fellow Scott alumnus who is hugely responsible for technology development at Scott, coined the term ALSAT, which is an acronym for Air Liquide Scott Applied Technology. As the guy largely responsible for generating the copy contained in our marketing materials, part of my efforts include assuring customers that whether a hydrocarbon blend or an EPA protocol gas, the mixture they purchase from Air Liquide America Specialty Gases is produced with bona fide, honest-to-goodness Scott technology. And THAT means the mixture delivers accuracy on which you can depend.

]]> http://alasg.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/who-knew-the-dog-could-play-guitar/ Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:07:49 +0000 Bob http://alasg.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/who-knew-the-dog-could-play-guitar/

Rockin' with SCOTT EPA Protocol Gases

I admit it. Specialty gases can be somewhat boring… to some people… okay, to most people then. So imagine being the dude charged with dreaming up promotional ideas, and writing sizzling copy that entices perspective customers to stand in line to purchase our premium priced products. That would be me.

Seeing the handwriting on the wall, about two or three years into my tenure here,  I resurrected a mascot Scottish terrier that had been used previously to promote our SCOTTY™ Transportable (disposable cylinder) products. At that time our company name was Scott Specialty Gases. Scott… Scotty… get the connection? Up until then the company had used some rather crude looking line art to represent “Scotty.” I’m just sayin’, it was pretty crude and primitive  compared to where I wanted to take our marketing communications. I wanted to use a real live dog: to better establish our brand ID, to breath a little life into our promotions, and to have a bit of fun in the bargain.

The graphic panel shown above stars the third Scotty dog we’ve used since those days in the mid 1990s. My fingers are twitching as I type this because I  want to refer to Scotty as a ‘he’. Dare I admit that Scotty is actually a ‘she’? Lassie was really a male in real life and not a female, was she—I mean he not? So maybe Scottie should be spelled with an ‘ie.’ What’s the big deal?

Many of our graphic panels, and trade ads, and calendar pages feature a dog named Gigi. (Uhuh, a French Scottish terrier—go figure.) Without seeing the raw photos my photog captured during several photo shoots, just looking at the finished graphic, I’m hard-pressed to tell if it’s Gigi or Lulu doing the rockin’. After Gigi retired, we turned to her protégé, Lulu, to continue the legacy. And selfless canine that she is, Gigi took time away from her squirrel chasing to attend our photo shoots to lend moral support and a few modeling pointers to Lulu.

So what the heck does a guitar playing dog have to do with specialty gases? Ummm, lemme think for a sec. Oh yeah, here’s my thought process:

1. We’re exhibiting and hosting a hospitality suite at the annual Electric Power Research Institute* conference to be held in Cleveland, Ohio in May—>
2. Acid rain utilities (power plants and others—you know who you are) are required to periodically undergo Relative Accuracy Test Audits (RATAs) essentially to determine if their Continuous Emission Monitors (CEMs) are working properly—>
3. If you calibrate your CEM with a SCOTT™ RATA Class™ EPA Protocol, you can actually save yourself  substantial $$$ in repeat RATAs  (really, you can)—>
4. Cleveland, as you may know, is the unlikely home of the Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame.

Bingo! Quite obviously this calls for Scotty to be jammin’ and generally rockin’ it out. Well, geez, in my mind it makes perfect sense!

*The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is an independent, non-profit company performing research, development and demonstration in the electricity sector for the benefit of the public.

When it comes to compressed gases, there is often confusion over the difference between industrial gases (sometimes referred to as commodity or bulk gases) and specialty gases (sometimes referred to as cylinder gases, although industrial gases can also be supplied in cylinders). The Compressed Gas Association (CGA), who sets standards to which suppliers of all types of compressed gases conform, defines its mission as being ‘dedicated to the development and promotion of safety standards and safe practices in the industrial gas industry. In a broad sense, in that most compressed gases are used for some sort of industrial application, all could be considered to be industrial gases. So to define the true difference between industrial gases and specialty gases, one must look beyond the application to other factors such as complexity, level of purity and certainty of composition.

According to the CGA compressed gases are often grouped into five loosely defined families: atmospheric; fuel; refrigerant; poisonous; and those having no obvious ties to any of the other families. Assignment to these families is somewhat arbitrary and typically based on the origin, use or chemical structure of a gas. Specialty gases can belong to any of these five families. Essentially, they are industrial gases taken to a higher level. The dictionary describes one of the definitions of the word specialty as: an unusual, distinctive, or superior mark or quality. Specialty gases then, can be defined as high-quality gases for specific applications that are prepared using laboratory analysis and other preparation methods in order to quantify, minimize or eliminate unknown or undesirable characteristics within the gas. Regarding specialty gas mixtures, precise blending is also necessary to achieve very specific concentration values for the components contained within the mixture.

Specialty pure gases

Pure gases are considered to be specialty gases when they are used as support gases for laboratory instruments such as chromatographs, mass spectrometers and other various types of analyzers and detectors. Manufacturers of these types of highly sensitive instruments normally specify the purity level of pure gases to be used with their instruments. For example, high-purity, moisture-free helium is often used as a carrier gas in these instruments. When unwanted impurities are present, performance of a laboratory instrument may be compromised, or the instrument itself may be damaged. A good rule of thumb is, when purity (sometimes as high as 99.9999%) and/or quantification of trace impurities is an issue, a pure gas is considered to be a specialty pure. Specialty pure gases are used in the manufacturing of semiconductors and other closely controlled applications as well. They may also be used to assess and monitor the integrity of a bulk pure gas. Carbon dioxide is a good example. Beverage-quality CO2, as used in the manufacture of soft drinks, can be classified as being more of a bulk-type gas because it is used in large quantities. However, because purity is a health concern, a specialty pure CO2, in which all trace impurities have been carefully quantified, is needed to calibrate instruments used to monitor the purity of the bulk CO2.

Specialty gas mixtures

Many specialty gases are actually gas mixtures that contain individual components. They are frequently used with various types of analyzers for process control and regulatory compliance. Some specialty mixtures are somewhat ‘standard’ and may contain only three or four components, such as nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide mixtures that are used by utility companies to calibrate Continuous Emissions Monitors (CEMs). Others may be quite complex, containing as many as 30 or more components. Usually, a specialty gas mixture is prepared using a Standard Reference Material (SRM) in order to validate accurate measurement of the mixture’s components. This provides what is known as traceability to a known measurement standard from a recognized metrology institution such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Specialty mixtures typically have components measured in percentages, parts-per-million and parts-per-billion.

Components and impurities

Laboratory analysis to quantify all components and impurities in a specialty mixture is nearly always critical. A formal document known as a Certificate of Accuracy or Certificate of Analysis is provided for each cylinder containing a specialty mixture, and also for some specialty pure gases. This certificate specifies the concentration values for all contents, as well as other important information such the method of blending, type of laboratory analysis and reference standard used to prepare the mixture and expiration date. Expiration date refers to the length of time the components of a mixture remain at their certified concentrations within the specified tolerances. Depending on the stability of the components, shelf life can vary from as little as six months to two years or more. Special cylinder preparation processes, such as our ACULIFE™ cylinder inerting treatments, can be used to condition cylinder interior walls in order to extend a mixture’s shelf life.

Specialty gases are typically not used in nearly as large a quantity as industrial gases and are supplied in steel or aluminum high-pressure cylinders containing up to 3000 pounds of pressure per square inch/gauge (psig). Hence, they are sometimes referred to as cylinder gases or bottled gases. The cylinder itself is typically not included in the price of the specialty gas it contains and must be returned to the gas supplier when the gas has been depleted. A nominal monthly cylinder rental is usually charged until the cylinder is returned. Many specialty gases are also available in small, portable and non-returnable cylinders such as Air Liquide’s SCOTTY™ Transportables. Other specialized containers include lecture bottles, that are often used in laboratories, and floating piston-type cylinders that are used to contain volatile liquid phase mixtures.

The cost of specialization

Due to blending technology, cylinder preparation, analytical analysis and statistical quality control necessary to produce specialty gases, cost is much higher than for lower grade industrial gases. An A-size cylinder containing 218 cubic feet of a low grade of helium suitable for filling party balloons might cost little more than $50. The same cylinder containing ALPHAGAZ™ 99.9999% pure research grade helium, with an impurity level of less than one part-per-million (1 ppm), might cost about $500. That’s still a bargain considering 144 cubic feet of a three-component SCOTT™ EPA Protocol mixture having an analytical accuracy to within ±1% can easily command $1,500 or more in the marketplace. As with any other specialized product, the end cost of a particular specialty pure or gas mixture is largely determined by the degree of difficulty and complexity involved in its preparation.

Before you buy specialty gases

Purchasing specialty gases can be a daunting task. Because of today’s bottom line-oriented business climate, one might consider selecting a specialty gas product based strictly on price. Be careful! While in some cases organizations such as the EPA may dictate minimum accuracy and manufacturing processes for certain gas mixtures, there are few industry-wide standards for specialty gas quality. Blending, analytical and cylinder preparation procedures vary between suppliers of specialty gases. Moreover, suppliers do not always use common nomenclature when describing their products. Even when the names of product classifications are the same or similar, the characteristics of the gases can be quite different. The best advice is to carefully evaluate your application needs before purchasing. Then talk with a specialty gas expert to be sure you fully understand how the characteristics of a particular pure gas or gas mixture will either meet or possibly compromise your application. Remember also that specialty gases require use of specialized gas handling equipment to safely distribute and deliver gas to the point of use while protecting against contaminants that can affect gas purity and integrity.