VGA – 450 Vent Guard

The Archer Instruments VGA-450 Vent Guard is a small chlorine neutralization system, designed to absorb up to 3 pounds of chlorine gas, which might escape from a chlorine vacuum regulator relief (a.k.a. “vent”) connection. Use of the VGA-450 Vent Guard can help to eliminate minor chlorine gas detection alarms caused by venting chlorine gas, reduce possible corrosion/oxidation to equipment inside chlorine rooms, and help comply with any code restrictions related to exhausting chlorine gas outside of buildings.

All properly designed and manufactured gas chlorinators (vacuum regulators) incorporate a spring-loaded, normally closed “inlet safety valve” designed to open only when vacuum is present inside of the system. When the vacuum regulator is in a standby condition, the inlet safety valve is relied upon to seal off the pressurized gas and prevent it from entering the system. If debris fouls the inlet safety valve due to poor filtration, dirty chlorine, or inadequate maintenance, some chlorine gas may leak past the inlet safety valve, enter the system, and subsequently be relieved at low pressure through the “vent” connection. When this happens the low-pressure gas relieved is known as “venting” gas. Venting chlorine gas is typically directed through an exterior wall and into the outside atmosphere where it will safely dissipate without affecting the health of operation personnel and without damaging any equipment. However, in urban or populous areas, even small amounts of venting chlorine gas can be a serious concern. The VGA-450 is designed to absorb any venting chlorine gas, neutralizing it prior to leaving the building.

The VGA-450 Vent Guard is roughly the size of a five-gallon bucket and weighs roughly thirty pounds. The container holds chlorine absorbing media that is designed to allow the gas to be absorbed while creating no backpressure or blockage to the gas flow. The container is sealed with a tamper-resistant lid and is provided with appropriate flexible tubing, tubing connectors, and transparent connections for both the container inlet and outlet connections. Each transparent connection allows for the insertion of a strip of chlorine indicating paper, which will change colors when contacted by chlorine gas. Having such a connector with chlorine indicating paper on both the inlet and outlet connection allows for visual identification of when (a) the vacuum regulator begins to vent chlorine gas and (b) the media contained in the VGA-450 Vent Guard is no longer able to absorb the venting chlorine gas.

The design of the VGA-450 Vent Guard also provides the ability to stack more than one unit on top of another. In this way, the outlet of one unit can be connected to the inlet of another, thus doubling the chlorine gas absorbing capacity of the system. The chlorine absorbent media used in the VGA- 450 Vent Guard is non-hazardous and requires no special actions for disposal. This means the entire unit can be safely discarded with regular trash/garbage disposal methods.

When a VGA-450 Vent Guard is incorporated into the design of a gas chlorination system, operation personnel will be able to visually identify a venting gas chlorinator while also knowing that venting chlorine gas is being safely absorbed prior to leaving the building.