Nitrogen Plant Application

Nitrogen comprises 78 % by volume of the atmosphere. It is lighter than water in its liquid form and lighter than air in its gaseous form. Slightly soluble in water, this gas is colorless, odorless, tasteless and plays a significant role in various industries like, chemical industry, pesticides, cement industry, paper and pulp industry, pharmaceutical industry, food & beverage industry, aviation industry, electronic industry, textile industry, etc.

Nitrogen is recognized as one of the 17 chemical elements required for plant growth and reproduction. It is also the basic element of plant and animal proteins and is important in periods of rapid plant growth. In industries it is commonly thought of and used as an inert gas. It is necessary for various biological processes, and is a component of ammonia-based fertilizers. In combination with halogens and organic compounds, nitrogen can also form explosive compounds.

Basically any industry that uses nitrogen is a potential user of Nitrogen Plants and the following is a partial list of these industries:

Chemical Industry
Nitrogen Plants holds an important place in the chemical processing units. They are employed to inert vessels and oxygen-sensitive chemicals. They build an oxygen-deficient environment that results in significant reduction in safety hazards. It is also used to manufacture ammonia, which is further used as a fertilizer.

Petroleum Industry
Refineries, petrochemical plants and marine tankers use nitrogen to purge equipment, tanks and pipelines of dangerous vapors and gases and to improve recovery and maintain pressure in oil and gas reservoirs.

Electronics Industry
In this industry Nitrogen Plants are used to prevent oxidation in the manufacture of semiconductors and printed circuits.

Glass Manufacturing Industry
In the production process of glass and related products nitrogen plant is used to cool furnace electrodes, to lower air temperatures for optimum cooling rates and to avoid oxidation during the process.

Food and Beverages Industry
The intense cold in liquid nitrogen allows very rapid freezing of food items and improved appearance, taste and texture.

HealthCare Industry
Nitrogen plant used in this industry serves in packaging of medicines, as nitrogen is used as a shield gas in the packing to prevent degradation by oxidation or moisture adsorption. It is also used to freeze blood, as well as viruses for vaccination.

Metal Industry
Nitrogen Plants are basically used to treat the melt in the manufacture of steel and other metals. The gas acts as a shield gas in the heat treatment of iron, steel and other metals. It protects metal such as steel, copper and aluminum during annealing, carbonizing and sintering operations in high temperature furnaces.

Construction Industry
Nitrogen plants (Liquid) can be spotted at construction site as it is popularly used to cool concrete, which leads to better-cured properties. It is specially used when construction operations must be done in soft, water-soaked ground such as tunnel construction underneath waterways, the ground can be frozen effectively with liquid nitrogen.

Apart from being used in the above-specified industry, Nitrogen Plants finds application at several other places, like, environmental testing of items, as a refrigeration source for chilling circulating dry air or to push liquids though pipelines.

Mostly, Nitrogen Plants operate on PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) technology, which is based on the selective adsorption phenomena of gas molecules under pressure on highly porous surface. These Plants are also custom generated and can be adjusted to give the desired nitrogen quality according to specific process and application.