Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a colourless, odourless, non-toxic, almost totally inert gas comprising approximately 79% by volume of air. It is non-flammable and will not support combustion. Nitrogen is supplied in cylinders as a high-pressure gas, or in insulated containers as a liquid.

USES AND FEATURES

• Among the many uses for gaseous nitrogen are flow testing, gauge calibration, plastic forming, aerosol propellant, powering air tools, mechanical agitation in photo processing, metal degassing, pipeline testing, pressure testing cables and the handling and transfer of flammable liquids.
• To prevent the undesirable presence of oxygen, nitrogen is valuable in furnaces, metal plating and tinning, chemical processing, food packing, wine making, paint and varnish manufacture, tube manufacture, packaging and preserving rubber products and optics.
• Dry nitrogen gas is used as a purging medium in drying refrigeration systems, catalytic towers in refineries, chemical processing, electronic tube and light bulb manufacture.
• Wherever moisture may not be tolerated, dry nitrogen is the preferred grade.
• Nitrogen is also used for the inert packaging of foods, sparging wines, pressurisation of head spaces in liquid containers and conveyance of beverages in pressurised pipe systems.
• Carrier gas in chromatography, calibration gas and scientific research.