Tired of constantly handling the regulator? A gas protocol station may be the answer for you. Gas protocol stations are a wall-mounted solution to your regulator hassles. They cut out cumbersome regulator swapping, keeping your cylinder swapping efficient and safe.
What Are Protocol Stations?
Gas protocol stations, also known as a single station manifold or regulator mounting stations, are a piece of wall-mounted gas equipment. These stations make cylinder swaps simple, prevent damage to the regulator, and improve safety. Protocol station construction differs for each type of station, but the most common fabrication options include stainless steel or chrome-plated brass.
Protocol stations are flexible and can handle single and dual-stage regulators. There are even protocol stations that have the option of supporting multiple cylinders at the same time. Safety isn’t a concern with protocol stations—their armored pigtail prevents damage that could cause leaks and keeps the station sealed.
A common point of concern people have when introduced to protocol stations is gas contamination. They often wonder how gases are prevented from blending if the regulator isn’t being removed. Protocol stations answer this question with integral check valves. These check valves seal the regulator while you swap cylinders, making sure that your gases stay pure.
Protocol stations are incredibly valuable commercial gas equipment that keeps your gas system organized, efficient, and secure.
Why Install a Protocol Station?
Specific reasons that you should install a protocol station include:
Efficiency
Constantly handling gas regulators isn’t just annoying, it’s a huge waste of time. A protocol station cuts out the time you spend removing and reattaching a regulator, keeping cylinder swaps quick.
Outside of the cylinder swap itself, operators usually have to reset delivery pressure and flow to purge impurities from the gas stream. This process completely cuts the flow of gas, meaning that every process using that gas is interrupted. While a cylinder swap may take just a few minutes, those minutes add up when they’re impacting multiple employees.
Protocol stations provide a convenient, simple solution to the regulator problem. By keeping your regulator wall mounted, you don’t waste time changing it out for each cylinder. Gas manifold protocol stations also cut out the need to purge gases when swapping cylinders. They accomplish this with check valves, which prevent atmospheric gas contamination.
Cleanliness / Organization
Having cylinders, regulators, and other gas equipment spread around all over the floor is messy, unprofessional, and inefficient. Take the position of a potential client visiting your facility—how would you feel about cylinders, regulators, and other gas equipment being strewn around the floor? A neat appearance will show clients that you have a high standard of quality, and will make them more likely to partner with you.
A neat, organized appearance will also motivate your workers to invest more into the business. Show them that you care about your facility’s appearance and they’ll do the same.
Safety
Gas protocol stations are safer than the alternative for a huge number of reasons.
One way that protocol stations are safer is because they keep your facility cleaner. While tidiness is great from an aesthetic perspective, it also prevents clutter that leads to trips and falls. Clear walkways make it easier for your employees to move around without worrying about bumping into or even knocking over volatile gases.
The second way that protocol stations make your company safer is by increasing gas purity. The check valves that we mentioned earlier prevent contamination, which is crucial to safely handling caustic or corrosive gases. Check valves also seal your regulator from environmental factors. This is important because excess moisture could react with certain gases to cause serious damage to your regulator. Invest in protocol stations to make sure that your gases stay stable and pure.
Situations Where a Protocol Station Can Improve Your Business
Let’s run through some stations where a protocol station can make your business more effective:
Welding
Let’s take the position of a welding company for the first scenario. If you’re a welding company, you probably work with gases like:
- Carbon Dioxide
- Argon
- Helium
- Acetylene
- Propane
- Butane
It’s possible that you have to swap cylinders for all of these gases multiple times throughout the day. Not only does this process waste your operator’s time, it makes whatever welding processes that need gas pause.
Install gas protocol stations to dedicate space for each welding gas. This makes your facility more organized and minimizes time spent swapping cylinders. This means that your workers can spend less time on cylinder maintenance and more time welding.
Manufacturing
Let’s say you work for a manufacturing company in the second scenario, or more specifically, the automotive industry. The automotive industry uses these gases frequently:
- Nitrogen
- Oxygen
- Carbon Dioxide
- Argon
- Hydrogen
- Helium
- Acetylene
Pausing to swap cylinders is inconvenient enough in welding. In manufacturing it can be devastating. Manufacturing is based around consistency—if one process gets put on hold, every proces gets put on hold. Cylinder swaps waste a huge amount of time and kill the rhythm that is frequently obtained in manufacturing lines. This lost time can be especially crushing in automotive manufacturing because consistency is key. Any one part of the process being thrown off could lead to a mistake that endangers consumers and makes your business vulnerable to lawsuits.
Invest in protocol stations to ensure that interruptions to your manufacturing line are minimal. Manufacturing moves fast—cylinder swaps should too.
Choose CK for Your Gas and Gas Equipment Needs
Whether you need gas equipment or are looking for an excellent supplier of industrial gases, CK Supply can meet your needs. We have over 70 years of experience in the industry and a wealth of technical expertise. Whatever the need, CK Supply can help take your business to the next level.
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