Nitrogen (N2) is the most abundant element in the atmosphere. It makes up 78% of the atmospheric composition. It is colorless as well as odorless. It is practically inert and is highly compressible. This characteristic of nitrogen makes it so valuable for industrial applications.
It is used as a cooling agent in various mechanical and chemical industries. The boiling point of nitrogen is -195.8 ℃, making it highly potent for instantly cooling down at very high temperatures. It forms a very nifty compound with oxygen called nitrous oxide, commonly known as “laughing gas,” which dentists extensively use for anesthetic purposes.
Nitrous oxide is known for making people feel exuberant and euphoric. Nitrogen is a very resourceful element and thus is used in aerospace, chemical, food tech, welding, automobile, and many other industries. It is used in both gaseous and liquid forms for industrial purposes.
Industries Where Nitrogen is Used Extensively
Nitrogen is highly versatile in nature and is used for several industrial purposes, like packaging, cooling, and transporting. Here are some of its main industrial uses.
1. Food Packaging Industry
It is used to pack food that could easily get spoiled if they come in contact with oxygen. It is used as a preservative in the packaging of chips. The air that chips’ packets come filled up with is nitrogen. Due to its inert properties, don’t react with the food, keeping it fresh for very long.
2. Aerospace Industry
Nitrogen is used in manufacturing steel. Liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant for engines in rockets. It prevents the highly exothermic reaction of oxygen and hydrogen from getting out of control by maintaining the heat generated from this reaction.
Nitrogen is also used in heat treating furnaces and autoclaves to produce extremely strong but lightweight materials. It is also used in laser cutting as it is an inert gas. It does not react with metal surfaces even when the metal surface gets heated up due to the laser. It displaces oxygen because of oxygen’s high reactive affinity with metals.
3. Chemical Industry
It is used as a coolant in chemical industries. Liquid nitrogen is packed in cylinders and is used as fire extinguishers in chemical fires. Standard water and liquid carbon dioxide cannot stop a chemical fire from spreading. Both carbon dioxide and water may react with the chemicals and get eaten up. Liquid nitrogen doesn’t react with the chemicals and quickly stops the fire.
4. Laboratories
Nitrogen is a prime component of nitric acid used to form aqua regia. Aqua regia is utilized to dissolve gold. Gold is a very non-reactive metal and doesn’t react even with oxygen. Thus without aqua regia, it becomes extremely difficult to extract and purify gold. It makes the job easy.
5. Transportation and Packaging
Due to its inert nature, it is used as a shielding agent for many reactive metals. Metals like sodium, potassium, and magnesium are highly reactive with oxygen. When they form respective metal oxides, the outer surface of the metal becomes very dull. Metals are dissolved in liquid nitrogen cylinders to prevent this from happening and then transported to various places.
6. Welding and Metal Fabrication
Nitrogen is used as a shielding gas constituent when welding metals. When heated to high temperatures, metals become very reactive and can easily undergo oxidization to form compounds. It is used to prevent oxygen from coming in contact with the metals. It is used in plasma cutting and sometimes mixed with argon to form shielding gas for TIG and MIG welding.
Conclusion
Nitrogen is very versatile and one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s atmosphere. It forms compounds like nitrous oxide, which doctors extensively use to calm anxious patients. Due to its different uses, it is one of the most valuable elements for industrial applications.