6 replies to this topic

[stinker]

Can anyone tell me why nitrogen blanketing is used so much more commonly than argon blanketing? Why is argon blanketing used at all? Also, why hasn't nitrogen been odorized in industry?

Thank you in advance for any responses

[breizh]

Hi,
Air is 79% of N2 .
Breizh

[riven]

First in most cases only nitrogen and argon are cost effective as blanketing or shielding (arc welding) gases. Nitrogen is more popular as it is more cost effective than argon. (In terms of welding CO2 is a semi inert gas but for some other applications it could be considered as an inert.)

The main difference with helium and argon is helium is lighter than air whereas argon is heavier. Thus for applications where a low flow is critical Argon would be preferred though this only happens in general for welding non-ferrous metals like Al (though there are many other considerations like oxygen addition to start the arc; argon is harder to ionise than He etc.).

For tank blanketing usually the only real issue is cost and thus nitrogen usually wins out. CO2 may be ruled out in many cases as itself in the presence of water causes acidic conditions.

Edited by riven, 23 November 2009 - 05:02 AM.

[VikingUK]

Can anyone tell me why nitrogen blanketing is used so much more commonly than argon blanketing? Why is argon blanketing used at all? Also, why hasn't nitrogen been odorized in industry?

Thank you in advance for any responses

Because nitrogen is cheaper than argon. I have never heard of argon blanketing unless you mean welding, this is because argon is purer (meaning less impurities) than nitrogen. Nitrogen is generally produced by reverse osmosis of air and as such can contain some traces of oxygen which you would not want in a welding operation.
As for odourising nitrogen.. why would you want to ???? And what with ???

[stinker]

Because nitrogen is cheaper than argon. I have never heard of argon blanketing unless you mean welding, this is because argon is purer (meaning less impurities) than nitrogen. Nitrogen is generally produced by reverse osmosis of air and as such can contain some traces of oxygen which you would not want in a welding operation.
As for odourising nitrogen.. why would you want to ???? And what with ???

Thank you all for the quick assistance. As far as why to odorize, I'm looking at ways to minimize nitrogen asphyxiation in industry. While it is not the main cause of fatal accidents, it is still a contributor. The main problem is that for odorizing gases, thiols are usually used. This is not a problem for natural gas as natural gas will just be burned, however, nitrogen is used for its inert properties and the thiols would just react.

[VikingUK]

Because nitrogen is cheaper than argon. I have never heard of argon blanketing unless you mean welding, this is because argon is purer (meaning less impurities) than nitrogen. Nitrogen is generally produced by reverse osmosis of air and as such can contain some traces of oxygen which you would not want in a welding operation.
As for odourising nitrogen.. why would you want to ???? And what with ???

Thank you all for the quick assistance. As far as why to odorize, I'm looking at ways to minimize nitrogen asphyxiation in industry. While it is not the main cause of fatal accidents, it is still a contributor. The main problem is that for odorizing gases, thiols are usually used. This is not a problem for natural gas as natural gas will just be burned, however, nitrogen is used for its inert properties and the thiols would just react.

There are procedures in industry to safely use all gases. We odourise natural gas only for domestic use, where at the home little old ladies live... !!!

[Zauberberg]

If you want to minimize Nitrogen asphyxiation in industry, make sure that all procedures for inert vessel entry are completely followed, and that only skilled/trained personnel is allowed to perform such activities. I have never heard of odorizing industrial (plant) Nitrogen, but perhaps you have just started a revolutionary thing. No kidding.