Leveraging nexAir’s bulk and microbulk gas systems to support energy-sector operations

Energy facilities use a lot of gas. A power plant cooling its generators with hydrogen goes through more in a day than a small manufacturer uses in a month. Solar panel production lines running nitrogen purge systems all day never stop consuming. When you’re using that much, swapping out cylinders becomes a full-time job for someone on your crew.

Bulk tanks store large amounts of gas on-site so you’re not constantly dealing with deliveries and cylinder exchanges. Microbulk systems are smaller than bulk tanks but still hold way more than cylinders. The question is figuring out which setup makes sense for how your facility operates.

When Bulk Tanks Make Sense

Bulk tanks work well when your facility has consistent, heavy gas usage. Think power plants, hydrogen production facilities, or large battery manufacturing operations. These places use gas measured in tons per month, not cylinders per week. A bulk tank sits on your property and gets refilled by truck on a schedule based on your consumption.

The tank stores gas in liquid form, which takes up less space than the same amount in compressed cylinders. When you need gas, it runs through a vaporizer that turns it back into usable form. There’s a real cost to getting a bulk system installed – concrete pads, safety equipment, piping, vaporizers. But once it’s set up, the price per unit of gas drops compared to what you’d pay for cylinders.

Microbulk for Mid-Range Consumption

Microbulk systems fit operations that have outgrown cylinders but don’t need a full bulk installation. Research facilities, pilot production lines, and smaller energy operations often fall into this category. You use enough gas that cylinder exchanges are becoming a hassle, but not enough to justify a massive bulk tank.

A microbulk tank is compact enough to fit in tighter spaces and doesn’t require the same level of infrastructure as bulk systems. You still get the convenience of on-site storage and automatic refills, just at a smaller scale. The cost per unit falls somewhere between cylinder pricing and bulk rates.

Figuring Out What Your Operation Needs

The right system depends on your consumption rate, available space, and how steady your usage is. A facility that uses roughly the same amount of gas every week is a great candidate for bulk or microbulk. Places with wildly fluctuating consumption might be better off with cylinders so you’re not paying for storage capacity that sits empty half the time.

We work through these questions with facility managers before recommending a system. How much gas are you using per month? Do you have space for a tank installation? Is your consumption predictable or does it swing based on production schedules? The answers point toward which setup makes the most sense. That’s where our KnowHow™ helps – we’ve set up systems for all kinds of energy operations and know what works for different situations.

Making the Transition

Switching from cylinders to bulk or microbulk is a project, not just a phone call. There’s planning, installation, safety inspections, and staff training on the new system. We help you Forge Forward through that process so it happens smoothly and doesn’t disrupt your operations. The goal is getting you set up with a gas supply system that fits how you work instead of forcing you to adapt to a system designed for someone else’s facility.

Thinking about bulk or microbulk gas systems for your energy operation? Contact nexAir and we’ll talk through what your facility uses and what kind of setup would work best.