Claind at DTO Innovators Tour Emilia-Romagna
📍 Cesenatico | May 26, 2026
Claind will take part in the DTO Innovators Tour Emilia-Romagna, an event dedicated to innovation in laboratories and analytical processes.
During the event, Nazzareno Irrera will deliver a practical perspective on an increasingly strategic topic for the industry:
Nitrogen & Hydrogen: purity… and the carrier gas?
An opportunity to explore a shift that many laboratories are already experiencing—and that many others will need to address in the coming years.
Why More Laboratories Are Moving Away from Helium
In recent years, the analytical laboratory landscape has been undergoing a tangible transformation.
What has long been considered a standard—the use of helium as a carrier gas—is now increasingly being questioned.
Not as a trend.
But as a necessity.
Growing supply constraints, rising costs, and increasing instability in availability are pushing laboratories, research centers, and companies to seek more sustainable alternatives.
Among these, hydrogen is emerging as one of the most promising solutions.
Hydrogen vs Helium: Not Just an Alternative, but an Advantage
Historically, helium has been the reference gas for gas chromatography.
Today, however, the scenario has changed.
Natural helium resources are limited and increasingly difficult to manage, with direct impacts on operational timelines and costs.
Hydrogen, on the other hand, offers tangible advantages:
- greater availability and operational autonomy
- significant cost reduction over the medium to long term
- increased separation speed in analytical processes
- ability to operate at lower temperatures
- extended column lifetime
In many cases, it is not simply about replacing one gas with another, but about improving the overall performance of the analytical process.
As highlighted in Claind’s analytical solutions, hydrogen can also enhance efficiency and reduce analysis time while maintaining high purity standards
The Role of On-Site Generation: Toward More Independent Laboratories
One of the most relevant aspects of this evolution concerns how gases are managed.
More and more laboratories are shifting from a model based on cylinders and external supply to an on-site generation approach.
This transition enables:
- elimination of delivery and handling costs
- reduction of logistics-related risks
- increased safety
- ensured operational continuity
Claind solutions are designed precisely with this vision: to provide gas when needed, in the required quantity, directly within the laboratory.
This approach reflects a broader industry trend where on-site generation is recognized as a more efficient and reliable long-term investment compared to traditional supply systems
Beyond Carrier Gas: The Real Challenge Is the Laboratory Ecosystem
Talking about hydrogen as a carrier gas is only part of the transformation.
The real point is this: the modern laboratory is a complex ecosystem, where every element must be designed to work in synergy.
Today, analytical technologies such as LC-MS, GC-MS, and others require:
- higher stability
- continuous and reliable gas flow
- consistent parameters over time
- the ability to adapt to variable workloads
Traditional laboratory generators, often designed for less demanding applications, are starting to show their limitations.
When the Laboratory Meets Industry
This is where a clear trend is emerging: the integration between laboratory-grade and industrial-grade solutions.
Thanks to experience gained in industrial environments, Claind is able to offer:
- generators with higher flow rates
- scalable systems aligned with laboratory growth
- optimized purity management based on application needs
- operational continuity even with multiple instruments
Technologies such as PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) enable efficient and continuous production of high-purity gases, overcoming the limits of traditional systems
This means designing laboratories that are more efficient, flexible, and future-ready.
A Strategic Choice, Not Just a Technical One
Adopting hydrogen as a carrier gas—or rethinking the entire gas generation system—is not purely a technical decision.
It is a strategic one.
It means:
- reducing dependence on external suppliers
- increasing control over processes
- improving operational efficiency
- preparing for an evolving market context
The shift from helium to hydrogen is just one signal of a broader transformation.
Laboratories that choose to evolve their ecosystem today are not simply optimizing a process.
They are building a competitive advantage.
👉 The question is no longer “which gas should you use?”
👉 The real question is: is your laboratory ready for the future?
