It is delivered to our customers by cryogenic tankers, into onsite storage, for use in high-volume customer applications.
It is stored as a cryogenic liquid in a vacuum-insulated vessel which can provide several days' supply and be used on demand as either a liquid or gas.
Application and use
In its liquid form nitrogen is used as a cryogen for many applications where very low temperatures or rapid temperature reduction is required.
The inert property of gaseous nitrogen enables it to be used for applications where a substance needs to be protected from oxidation or combustion by atmospheric air, or from contamination by moisture.
Some common applications where nitrogen is used are:
| Artificial Insemination | Nitrogen is often used for the storage of semen samples for artificial insemination of cattle. |
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| Blanketing and inerting | Nitrogen is used to maintain a dry inert atmosphere over chemicals during storage, reaction or processing. |
| Controlled atmospheres | The atmosphere and ambient temperature surrounding naturally respiring products such as fruit is actively controlled to provide optimum conditions for long-term storage |
| Electronics | Used in the inerting of printed circuit board reflow and wave ovens, to prevent oxidation and facilitate the use of weaker fluxes which decompose more easily without leaving a residue |
| Food freezing/chilling | Liquid nitrogen freezes food quickly, producing a higher-quality product compared to to conventional refrigeration |
| Food inerting | Used in brewing, soft drinks and wine-making industries to exclude air from the product and de-aerate water. |
| Food packaging | Used in modified atmosphere packaging, liquid nitrogen can increase the shelf-life without the need for vacuum-packing, artificial preservatives or freezing |
| Freeze-drying | In the freeze-drying process, materials dissolved in water or organic solvents are frozen into particles or droplets. A vacuum is applied to the freezing chamber along with a controlled amount of heat sufficient to drive off moisture by sublimation |
| Glass | Nitrogen and hydrogen are used in the float glass process for manufacturing flat glass. In this process perfectly flat glass with a very high quality is achieved by floating liquid glass on a bath of molten tin |
| Heat treatment | Pure nitrogen is used to protect some of the most reactive metals during heat treatment. These metals readily form a protective oxide surface layer from the small amount of oxygen in the nitrogen and need no further protection |
| Lasers | Nitrogen is used as an assist gas for laser cutting of stainless steel, aluminium and non-metallic materials |
| Metals | Nitrogen is used in iron and steelworks applications for degassing and metal-stirring, purging, cooling, slag splashing, gas knives and as a carrier gas for injecting de-sulphurising compounds. It is also used for aluminium-extrusion inerting |
| Pipe-freezing | Repairs can be made to a pipe containing a liquid by using liquid nitrogen to freeze a plug of liquid on each side of the section of pipe to be opened |
| Purging | Applications include inerting reactors and storage tanks, purging vessels and pipelines of flammable or toxic gases and vapours, and the sparging and pressure transfer of liquids |
| Shrink-fitting | Liquid nitrogen is used to shrink components so they are small enough to be inserted into another component |
| Sample storage | Liquid Nitrogen can be used to store medical or research samples such as blood, plasma and semen – safely |