Patent ID: 8308854

Claim:
A system for collecting, re-pressurizing, purifying and re-using helium gas used as a carrier gas for a gas chromatograph, the system comprising: (i) a flexible bladder comprising a bladder interior, the bladder interior fluidically coupled to at least one of a split vent and a septum purge vent of the gas chromatograph so as to receive helium-bearing gas output from the at least one of said vents; (ii) a compartment comprising a compartment interior within which the bladder is contained; (iii) a source of pressurized air or gas fluidically coupled to the compartment interior and operable so as to supply said pressurized air or gas into the compartment interior so as to compress the flexible bladder containing the helium-bearing gas; (iv) a gas reservoir fluidically coupled to the bladder interior so as to receive the helium bearing gas from the interior of the compressed bladder; and (v) at least one gas purification module comprising a pyrolysis furnace that is fluidically coupled to the gas reservoir so as to receive the helium-bearing gas from the gas reservoir and operable to remove gas components other than helium from the helium-bearing gas, wherein an output of the at least one gas purification module is fluidically coupled to a carrier gas inlet of the gas chromatograph.