Stewart Willers, Executive Director of Racing Analytical Services Limited (RASL), Australia’s largest independent drug testing laboratory with over 60,000 processed samples per annum, explains why they have opted for an i-Flow nitrogen gas generator system following a recent boom in the demands of their services.  

1. What is RASL’s primary focus?

Our primary focus is testing of prohibited pharmaceutical agents in the urine or bloods of equine and canines.We perform these analyses with mass spectrometry equipment from Shimadzu, Agilent Technologies, Sciex and Thermo. The samples are prepared with Solvent evaporation, sample concentration and Solid-Phase extraction (SPE) robots from Hamilton and Biotage.

2. What prompted you to choose an i-Flow Nitrogen generator and how long has it been supplying gas to your laboratory?

We chose the i-Flow specifically as it could be upgraded as our needs grew. The initial nitrogen generator purchase was in 2016 and began with 4 pairs of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) cartridges/ banks. The i-Flow has been upgraded to 10 CMS banks and supplying the additional capacity and purity needed for our sample preparation and analytical equipment.

3. What has been the key benefit of introducing i-Flow into your facility as opposed to your previous gas supply solution?

The main benefit of the Peak i-Flow nitrogen gas generator in 2016 was that it could provide the desired flow, pressure and purity reliably, with good customer support. For the most recent upgrade, we are no longer reliant on supplementary gas supply (such as cylinders or liquid nitrogen). Peak were able to upgrade the entire system from compressor, dryers and inline filtration so now I don’t have to continually monitor our supply.

4. How was your purchasing and installation experience with Peak? 

The purchasing experience was excellent. Our local Country Manager even went as far as to draw the desired layout to ensure a solution could be designed to fit within the existing space. The installation went smoothly due to this level of attention to detail. Peak worked seamlessly with our chosen pipework provider to have everything installed within tight spatial and time constraints.

5. What has been the impact of the upgraded system and i-Flow on your productivity? 

The laboratory productivity can now increase as there is a more reliable supply of nitrogen. Without the plant upgrade, we would not be able to continue to grow.

6. How would you describe your experience regarding [Peak Protected] service support?

We have had site visits from Peak engineers to carry out preventative maintenance. The experience from my point of view has been quite positive. There is frequent communication between the Peak service co-ordinator, the engineer and myself. This ensures everyone can plan for the outage and manage expectations about the length of downtime.

7. Would you recommend Peak for reticulated Nitrogen and air solutions and why?

I would gladly recommend Peak and the i-Flow gas generator to other laboratories. The expected result of the most recent upgrade has been exceeded and could not have run more smoothly. Peak understands the needs of our laboratory and the customer service both before the sale and technical support after installation proves to me that Peak and their staff are great to use as a service provider. I have the utmost confidence that they will be available whenever I may need their assistance.

As Stewart explains, Peak Gas Generation recently upgraded RASL’s reticulated gas system to meet their current and future on-site gas needs. i-Flow has brought many benefits to RASL’s facility, including the ability to expand and meet the lab’s increasing demands. In its unique expandable design, i-Flow allows additional CMS columns to be added after installation. This has provided RASL with flexibility without restricting nitrogen generation to a fixed capacity should the future needs of the lab change.

Apart from the i-Flow nitrogen generator, Peak Gas Generation also provided additional equipment, including compressor, dryers and inline filtration. Our team of experts were then able to upgrade the facility’s whole system, thanks to our industry-leading project design and management service.