[Nhcoll-l] Liquid nitrogen generating unit

[Kyndall Hildebrandt]

Hi Andrew,

I'm the collection manager of Genomic Resources at the University of Alaska
Museum. We currently have nine cryovats and run the Cryomech LNP120
generator (120 liters per day). The 120L plant has a 300 L collection
dewar. We ran for several years, the LNP40 (40L  per day) and that was
about maxed out with three cryovats.  I would encourage you to go with a
larger plant or if possible two medium sized plants. The biggest difference
is price and cooling of the unit - air-cooled or water-cooled generator.
The LNP40 was air-cooled, and the LNP120 is water cooled (only option for
the LNP120). I believe there is an even bigger size now. Both have their
pluses and minuses. The water-cooled required us to plumb it into our
buildings chilled water. Air-cooled meant that the room got too hot and had
to be heavily air-conditioned. Cryomech <http://www.cryomech.com/> could
help you determine which would be best for you.

The university I'm at uses Cryomech since our refrigeration techs on campus
are trained to do maintenance work and the maintenance work is super
simple. There is annual maintenance required and is about $1K. Currently,
our generator is currently in New York getting repairs hence why I suggest
having two just in case one goes down. Luckily, there are several units on
campus that allow me to use swipe LN2 while our plant is down.

I would also suggest looking into Stirling (
https://www.stirlingcryogenics.eu/en/products/liquid-nitrogen-production-systems)
for another brand of LN2 generators. I don't have any experience with them
but the Museum of Southwestern Biology has one.

As for price, depends on size. I think the LNP40s are not about $50K and
LNP120 about $120K (I suggest getting a quote instead of taking my word on
this). This doesn't account for install costs (plumbing for water-cooled,
mounting of the filters, O2 alarm if you don't already have one). The cost
to purchase LN2 for us is $8L in Fairbanks so it was a no-brainer for us to
make our LN2. Been running LN2 generators since 2008.

You can view more information about our setup on our webpage
<https://www.uaf.edu/museum/collections/genomics/> and feel free to contact
me if you have any further questions.

Kyndall

On Tue, Aug 9, 2022 at 6:46 AM Bentley, Andrew Charles <abentley at ku.edu>
wrote:

> Hi all
>
>
>
> The tissue collections at KU are rapidly expanding as are our liquid
> nitrogen dewars.  We are potentially getting to the tipping point of
> purchasing a liquid nitrogen generator to supply our needs rather than
> purchasing from an outside entity.  Does anyone have such a unit at a
> museum?  If so, how much does the unit cost, how much liquid nitrogen does
> it develop over a set period and what other infrastructure is required in
> order to operate such a unit and supply liquid nitrogen to dewars?
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance for any information that can help us make this decision.
>
>
>
> Andy
>
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
> Andy Bentley
> Ichthyology Collection Manager
> University of Kansas
> Biodiversity Institute
>
> Dyche Hall
> 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
> Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
> USA
>
> Tel: (785) 864-3863
> Fax: (785) 864-5335
> Email: abentley at ku.edu
>
> ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3093-1258
>
> http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu
>
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
>
>
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-- 

*************************
Kyndall Hildebrandt <http://www.uaf.edu/museum/collections/genomics/staff/>
 Powers
Genomic Resources <http://www.uaf.edu/museum/collections/genomics/> Collection
Manager
University of Alaska Museum <http://www.uaf.edu/museum/>
1962 Yukon Dr.
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775

khpowers at alaska.edu <kbhildebrandt at alaska.edu>
907-474-6914

UAM Collection database:
http://arctos.database.museum/
<http://arctos.database.museum/SpecimenSearch.cfm>
https://arctosdb.org/
*************************
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