Hi Jessica,
I can provide some information about the Bruker cryoprobes that may prove
helpful. The first thing to know is that the helium cryoprobe is a closed
system and consumes no helium while it's cold and in use unless there's a
leak.
Bruker strongly recommends servicing the system every 10k hours which is
roughly annually when it's in constant use. That replaces the coldhead,
services the vacuum components, and when needed changes the adsorber.
Others who've done this recently can probably give you a good idea of
pricing.
Assuming this is the main (or only) probe and the system doesn't warm up
more than a couple times a year, I would expect a full cylinder of helium
gas (6.0 grade) to last roughly 2 years. It only gets consumed during
service or when flushing the probe at the start of a cooldown. Pricing
varies by region/supplier. It's a good idea to have a spare on hand to
change out when needed.
As for recovery, I'm not aware of anyone doing it. In theory you could
probably capture the exhaust when it vents while flushing but I'm not sure
it's worth the effort.
One other cost to consider is the replacement cost of the He compressor.
Unless you'll have a service contract you should budget for this. How often
and how much it costs depends on what type of compressor.
The Prodigy (N2) cryoprobes are a very different beast. Official service is
once every 2 years mostly for the vacuum system and to refresh the N2
transfer line from the Dewar to the probe. There's no coldhead or helium.
But you do have to fill the N2 Dewar about once a week and the probe won't
be usable for a couple of hours when you do.
Cheers,
Andrew
On Wed, Aug 30, 2023 at 10:55 PM Roberts, Jessica <jroberts_at_ohio.edu> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
>
>
> I am in the process of determining the most appropriate cryoprobe to
> purchase and one of the major driving forces is that of the
> operation/upkeep costs. I have a handful of biochemical users, as well as
> other advanced organic users, that would greatly benefit from a LHe
> cryoprobe and personally that is my preference. However, I was curious to
> see a few things from others that would help navigate this decision:
>
>
>
> 1. What are the yearly costs related to the upkeep of the LHe
> cryoprobe? If the cost can be broken down to compare between general upkeep
> and He costs, that would be super helpful!
> 2. I know that is going to depend on usage and operation temperatures,
> etc., but how much LHe do you feel your probe goes through yearly?
> 3. Is there a way to recover the He boil off from the probe? I am in
> the process of installing a He recovery hose to the NMR He stack already,
> not sure how that would work to recover from probe (I apologize if this is
> a silly question).
>
>
>
> Thanks!!!
>
> Jessica
>
>
>
> Dr. Jessica M. Roberts, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor of Instruction
> NMR Facility Manager
> Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
> Ohio University
> 245 Chemistry
> Athens, OH 45701
> 740.593.0038
> jroberts_at_ohio.edu
>
> --
>
>
>
>
>
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