[3dem] Ethane Cylinder Age

[Schwartz, Cindi (NIH/NIAID) [E]]

Back when I was in Boulder, we experimented with propane/ethane mixtures and got great freezing with a mixture of 30% camping grade propane purchased some time in the 80s and 70% 5-9s ethane. Shockingly, no weird contaminations to speak of.

Cheers,
Cindi Schwartz
Biologist-Bioinformatics
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
RML Building 5/5101
406-363-9228
Cindi.Schwartz at NIH.gov<mailto:Cindi.Schwartz at NIH.gov>

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From: 3dem <3dem-bounces at ncmir.ucsd.edu> On Behalf Of Thomas, Leonard M. via 3dem
Sent: Tuesday, September 9, 2025 9:56 AM
To: '3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu' <3dem at ncmir.ucsd.edu>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [3dem] Ethane Cylinder Age

Hello All,

Sort of oddish question but how long is a research grade Ethane cylinder good for?  We have one that is probably at least 6 years old and I was wondering when I should worry about the quality of the ethane for plunge freezing.  It really was not used much when it was first purchased but has been since we got a hold of it.

Thank in advance for any thoughts,
Len


Leonard M. Thomas, Ph.D.

Biomolecular Structure Core Director

Oklahoma COBRE in Structure Biology

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Stephenson Life Science Research Center

101 Stephenson Parkway

Norman, OK 73019

(405)325-1126

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