Industrial gas

Gaseous materials produced for use in industry

Are you interested in learning more about industrial gas distributor manufacturer? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

A gas regulator attached to a nitrogen cylinder

Industrial gases are the gaseous materials that are manufactured for use in industry. The principal gases provided are nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon, hydrogen, helium and acetylene, although many other gases and mixtures are also available in gas cylinders. The industry producing these gases is also known as industrial gas, which is seen as also encompassing the supply of equipment and technology to produce and use the gases.[1] Their production is a part of the wider chemical Industry (where industrial gases are often seen as "specialty chemicals").

Industrial gases are used in a wide range of industries, which include oil and gas, petrochemicals, chemicals, power, mining, steelmaking, metals, environmental protection, medicine, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food, water, fertilizers, nuclear power, electronics and aerospace. Industrial gas is sold to other industrial enterprises; typically comprising large orders to corporate industrial clients, covering a size range from building a process facility or pipeline down to cylinder gas supply.

Some trade scale business is done, typically through tied local agents who are supplied wholesale. This business covers the sale or hire of gas cylinders and associated equipment to tradesmen and occasionally the general public. This includes products such as balloon helium, dispensing gases for beer kegs, welding gases and welding equipment, LPG and medical oxygen.

Retail sales of small scale gas supply are not confined to just the industrial gas companies or their agents. A wide variety of hand-carried small gas containers, which may be called cylinders, bottles, cartridges, capsules or canisters are available to supply LPG, butane, propane, carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide. Examples are whipped-cream chargers, powerlets, campingaz and sodastream.

Early history of gases

[

edit

]

Blowing air at a spark

The first gas from the natural environment used by humans was almost certainly air when it was discovered that blowing on or fanning a fire made it burn brighter. Humans also used the warm gases from a fire to smoke foods and steam from boiling water to cook foods.

Bubbles of carbon dioxide form a froth on fermenting liquids such as beer.

Carbon dioxide has been known from ancient times as the byproduct of fermentation, particularly for beverages, which was first documented dating from to B.C. in Jiahu, China.[2] Natural gas was used by the Chinese in about 500 B.C. when they discovered the potential to transport gas seeping from the ground in crude pipelines of bamboo to where it was used to boil sea water.[3] Sulfur dioxide was used by the Romans in winemaking as it had been discovered that burning candles made of sulfur [4] inside empty wine vessels would keep them fresh and prevent them gaining a vinegar smell.[5]

Early understanding consisted of empirical evidence and the protoscience of alchemy; however with the advent of scientific method[6] and the science of chemistry, these gases became positively identified and understood.

Kipp's apparatus

The history of chemistry tells us that a number of gases were identified and either discovered or first made in relatively pure form during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries by notable chemists in their laboratories. The timeline of attributed discovery for various gases are carbon dioxide (),[7] hydrogen (),[8][9] nitrogen (),[8] nitrous oxide (),[10] oxygen (),[8][11][12] ammonia (),[13] chlorine (),[8] methane (),[14] hydrogen sulfide (),[15] carbon monoxide (),[16] hydrogen chloride (),[17] acetylene (),[18] helium () [8][19] fluorine (),[8] argon (),[8] krypton, neon and xenon () [8] and radon ().[8]

Carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, ammonia, chlorine, sulfur dioxide and manufactured fuel gas were already being used during the 19th century, and mainly had uses in food, refrigeration, medicine, and for fuel and gas lighting.[20] For example, carbonated water was being made from and commercially from , chlorine was first used to bleach textiles in [21] and nitrous oxide was first used for dentistry anaesthesia in .[10] At this time gases were often generated for immediate use by chemical reactions. A notable example of a generator is Kipps apparatus which was invented in [22] and could be used to generate gases such as hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, acetylene and carbon dioxide by simple gas evolution reactions. Acetylene was manufactured commercially from and acetylene generators were used from about to produce gas for gas cooking and gas lighting, however electricity took over as more practical for lighting and once LPG was produced commercially from , the use of acetylene for cooking declined.[20]

Late Victorian Gasogene for producing carbonated water

Once gases had been discovered and produced in modest quantities, the process of industrialisation spurred on innovation and invention of technology to produce larger quantities of these gases. Notable developments in the industrial production of gases include the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen (in ) and oxygen (from ), the Brin process for oxygen production which was invented in the , the chloralkali process to produce chlorine in and the Haber Process to produce ammonia in .[23]

The development of uses in refrigeration also enabled advances in air conditioning and the liquefaction of gases. Carbon dioxide was first liquefied in . The first Vapor-compression refrigeration cycle using ether was invented by Jacob Perkins in and a similar cycle using ammonia was invented in and another with sulfur dioxide in .[20] Liquid oxygen and Liquid nitrogen were both first made in ; Liquid hydrogen was first made in and liquid helium in . LPG was first made in . A patent for LNG was filed in with the first commercial production in .[24]

Although no one event marks the beginning of the industrial gas industry, many would take it to be the s with the construction of the first high pressure gas cylinders.[20] Initially cylinders were mostly used for carbon dioxide in carbonation or dispensing of beverages. In refrigeration compression cycles were further developed to enable the liquefaction of air,[25] most notably by Carl von Linde[26] allowing larger quantities of oxygen production and in the discovery that large quantities of acetylene could be dissolved in acetone and rendered nonexplosive allowed the safe bottling of acetylene.[27]

A particularly important use was the development of welding and metal cutting done with oxygen and acetylene from the early s. As production processes for other gases were developed many more gases came to be sold in cylinders without the need for a gas generator.

Gas production technology

[

edit

]

Distillation column in a cryogenic air separation plant

Air separation plants refine air in a separation process and so allow the bulk production of nitrogen and argon in addition to oxygen - these three are often also produced as cryogenic liquid. To achieve the required low distillation temperatures, an Air Separation Unit (ASU) uses a refrigeration cycle that operates by means of the Joule&#;Thomson effect. In addition to the main air gases, air separation is also the only practical source for production of the rare noble gases neon, krypton and xenon.

Cryogenic technologies also allow the liquefaction of natural gas, hydrogen and helium. In natural-gas processing, cryogenic technologies are used to remove nitrogen from natural gas in a Nitrogen Rejection Unit; a process that can also be used to produce helium from natural gas where natural gas fields contain sufficient helium to make this economic. The larger industrial gas companies have often invested in extensive patent libraries in all fields of their business, but particularly in cryogenics.

Gasification

The other principal production technology in the industry is Reforming. Steam reforming is a chemical process used to convert natural gas and steam into a syngas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide with carbon dioxide as a byproduct. Partial oxidation and autothermal reforming are similar processes but these also require oxygen from an ASU. Synthesis gas is often a precursor to the chemical synthesis of ammonia or methanol. The carbon dioxide produced is an acid gas and is most commonly removed by amine treating. This separated carbon dioxide can potentially be sequestrated to a carbon capture reservoir or used for Enhanced oil recovery.

Air Separation and hydrogen reforming technologies are the cornerstone of the industrial gases industry and also form part of the technologies required for many fuel gasification ( including IGCC), cogeneration and Fischer-Tropsch gas to liquids schemes. Hydrogen has many production methods and may be almost a carbon neutral alternative fuel if produced by water electrolysis (assuming the electricity is produced in nuclear or other low carbon footprint power plant instead of reforming natural gas which is by far dominant method). One example of displacing the use of hydrocarbons is Orkney;[28] see hydrogen economy for more information on hydrogen's uses. liquid hydrogen is used by NASA in the Space Shuttle as a rocket fuel.

A nitrogen generator Membrane nitrogen generator

Simpler gas separation technologies, such as membranes or molecular sieves used in pressure swing adsorption or vacuum swing adsorption are also used to produce low purity air gases in nitrogen generators and oxygen plants. Other examples producing smaller amounts of gas are chemical oxygen generators or oxygen concentrators.

In addition to the major gases produced by air separation and syngas reforming, the industry provides many other gases. Some gases are simply byproducts from other industries and others are sometimes bought from other larger chemical producers, refined and repackaged; although a few have their own production processes. Examples are hydrogen chloride produced by burning hydrogen in chlorine, nitrous oxide produced by thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate when gently heated, electrolysis for the production of fluorine, chlorine and hydrogen, and electrical corona discharge to produce ozone from air or oxygen.

Related services and technology can be supplied such as vacuum, which is often provided in hospital gas systems; purified compressed air; or refrigeration. Another unusual system is the inert gas generator. Some industrial gas companies may also supply related chemicals, particularly liquids such as bromine, hydrogen fluoride and ethylene oxide.

Gas distribution

[

edit

]

Mode of gas supply

[

edit

]

Most materials that are gaseous at ambient temperature and pressure are supplied as compressed gas. A gas compressor is used to compress the gas into storage pressure vessels (such as gas canisters, gas cylinders or tube trailers) through piping systems. Gas cylinders are by far the most common gas storage [29] and large numbers are produced at a "cylinder fill" facility.

However, not all industrial gases are supplied in the gaseous phase. A few gases are vapors that can be liquefied at ambient temperature under pressure alone, so they can also be supplied as a liquid in an appropriate container. This phase change also makes these gases useful as ambient refrigerants and the most significant industrial gases with this property are ammonia (R717), propane (R290), butane (R600), and sulfur dioxide (R764). Chlorine also has this property but is too toxic, corrosive and reactive to ever have been used as a refrigerant. Some other gases exhibit this phase change if the ambient temperature is low enough; this includes ethylene (R), carbon dioxide (R744), ethane (R170), nitrous oxide (R744A), and sulfur hexafluoride; however, these can only be liquefied under pressure if kept below their critical temperatures which are 9 °C for C2H4 ; 31 °C for CO2 ; 32 °C for C2H6 ; 36 °C for N2O ; 45 °C for SF6.[30] All of these substances are also provided as a gas (not a vapor) at the 200 bar pressure in a gas cylinder because that pressure is above their critical pressure.[30]

Permanent gases (those with a critical temperature below ambient) can only be supplied as liquid if they are also cooled. All gases can potentially be used as a refrigerant around the temperatures at which they are liquid; for example nitrogen (R728) and methane (R50) are used as refrigerant at cryogenic temperatures.[25]

Exceptionally carbon dioxide can be produced as a cold solid known as dry ice, which sublimes as it warms in ambient conditions, the properties of carbon dioxide are such that it cannot be liquid at a pressure below its triple point of 5.1 bar.[30]

Acetylene is also supplied differently. Since it is so unstable and explosive, this is supplied as a gas dissolved in acetone within a packing mass in a cylinder. Acetylene is also the only other common industrial gas that sublimes at atmospheric pressure.[30]

Gas delivery

[

edit

]

Photos gas cabinet inventory

The major industrial gases can be produced in bulk and delivered to customers by pipeline, but can also be packaged and transported.

Most gases are sold in gas cylinders and some sold as liquid in appropriate containers (e.g. Dewars) or as bulk liquid delivered by truck. The industry originally supplied gases in cylinders to avoid the need for local gas generation; but for large customers such as steelworks or oil refineries, a large gas production plant may be built nearby (typically called an "on-site" facility) to avoid using large numbers of cylinders manifolded together. Alternatively, an industrial gas company may supply the plant and equipment to produce the gas rather than the gas itself. An industrial gas company may also offer to act as plant operator under an operations and maintenance contract for a gases facility for a customer, since it usually has the experience of running such facilities for the production or handling of gases for itself.

Some materials are dangerous to use as a gas; for example, fluorine is highly reactive and industrial chemistry requiring fluorine often uses hydrogen fluoride (or hydrofluoric acid) instead. Another approach to overcoming gas reactivity is to generate the gas as and when required, which is done, for example, with ozone.

The delivery options are therefore local gas generation, pipelines, bulk transport (truck, rail, ship), and packaged gases in gas cylinders or other containers.[1]

Bulk liquid gases are often transferred to end user storage tanks. Gas cylinders (and liquid gas containing vessels) are often used by end users for their own small scale distribution systems. Toxic or flammable gas cylinders are often stored by end users in gas cabinets for protection from external fire or from any leak.

Gas cylinder color coding

[

edit

]

EN -3 color coding for industrial gas cylinders

Despite attempts at standardization to facilitate user and first responders' safety, no universal coding exists for cylinders with industrial gases, therefore several color coding standards are in usage. In most developed countries of the world, notably countries of European union and United Kingdom, EN -3 is used, with cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas being an exception.

In United States of America, no official regulation of color coding for gas cylinders exists and none is enforced.[31]

What defines an industrial gas

[

edit

]

Industrial gas is a group of materials that are specifically manufactured for use in industry and are also gaseous at ambient temperature and pressure. They are chemicals which can be an elemental gas or a chemical compound that is either organic or inorganic, and tend to be low molecular weight molecules. They could also be a mixture of individual gases. They have value as a chemical; whether as a feedstock, in process enhancement, as a useful end product, or for a particular use; as opposed to having value as a "simple" fuel.

The term &#;industrial gases&#; [32] is sometimes narrowly defined as just the major gases sold, which are: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon, hydrogen, acetylene and helium.[33] Many names are given to gases outside of this main list by the different industrial gas companies, but generally the gases fall into the categories "specialty gases", &#;medical gases&#;, &#;fuel gases&#; or &#;refrigerant gases&#;. However gases can also be known by their uses or industries that they serve, hence "welding gases" or "breathing gases", etc.; or by their source, as in "air gases"; or by their mode of supply as in "packaged gases". The major gases might also be termed "bulk gases" or "tonnage gases".

In principle any gas or gas mixture sold by the "industrial gases industry" probably has some industrial use and might be termed an "industrial gas". In practice, "industrial gases" are likely to be a pure compound or a mixture of precise chemical composition, packaged or in small quantities, but with high purity or tailored to a specific use (e.g. oxyacetylene). Lists of the more significant gases are listed in "The Gases" below.

There are cases when a gas is not usually termed an "industrial gas"; principally where the gas is processed for later use of its energy rather than manufactured for use as a chemical substance or preparation.

The oil and gas industry is seen as distinct. So, whilst it is true that natural gas is a "gas" used in "industry" - often as a fuel, sometimes as a feedstock, and in this generic sense is an "industrial gas"; this term is not generally used by industrial enterprises for hydrocarbons produced by the petroleum industry directly from natural resources or in an oil refinery. Materials such as LPG and LNG are complex mixtures often without precise chemical composition that often also changes whilst stored.

The petrochemical industry is also seen as distinct. So petrochemicals (chemicals derived from petroleum) such as ethylene are also generally not described as "industrial gases".

Sometimes the chemical industry is thought of as distinct from industrial gases; so materials such as ammonia and chlorine might be considered "chemicals" (especially if supplied as a liquid) instead of or sometimes as well as "industrial gases".

Small scale gas supply of hand-carried containers is sometimes not considered to be industrial gas as the use is considered personal rather than industrial; and suppliers are not always gas specialists.

These demarcations are based on perceived boundaries of these industries (although in practice there is some overlap), and an exact scientific definition is difficult. To illustrate "overlap" between industries:

Manufactured fuel gas (such as town gas) would historically have been considered an industrial gas. Syngas is often considered to be a petrochemical; although its production is a core industrial gases technology. Similarly, projects harnessing Landfill gas or biogas, Waste-to-energy schemes, as well as Hydrogen Production all exhibit overlapping technologies.

Helium is an industrial gas, even though its source is from natural gas processing.

Any gas is likely to be considered an industrial gas if it is put in a gas cylinder (except perhaps if it is used as a fuel)

For more c2h4 melting pointinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

Propane would be considered an industrial gas when used as a refrigerant, but not when used as a refrigerant in LNG production, even though this is an overlapping technology.

Gases

[

edit

]

Elemental gases

[

edit

]

The known chemical elements which are, or can be obtained from natural resources (without transmutation) and which are gaseous are hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, plus the noble gases; and are collectively referred to by chemists as the "elemental gases".[34] These elements are all primordial apart from the noble gas radon which is a trace radioisotope which occurs naturally since all isotopes are radiogenic nuclides from radioactive decay. These elements are all nonmetals.

(Synthetic elements have no relevance to the industrial gas industry; however for scientific completeness, note that it has been suggested, but not scientifically proven, that metallic elements 112 (Copernicium) and 114 (Flerovium) are gases.[35])

The elements which are stable two atom homonuclear molecules at standard temperature and pressure (STP), are hydrogen (H2), nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2), plus the halogens fluorine (F2) and chlorine (Cl2). The noble gases are all monatomic.

In the industrial gases industry the term "elemental gases" (or sometimes less accurately "molecular gases") is used to distinguish these gases from molecules that are also chemical compounds.

Radon is chemically stable, but it is radioactive and does not have a stable isotope. Its most stable isotope, 222Rn, has a half-life of 3.8 days. Its uses are due to its radioactivity rather than its chemistry and it requires specialist handling outside of industrial gas industry norms. It can however be produced as a by-product of uraniferous ores processing. Radon is a trace naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) encountered in the air processed in an ASU.

Chlorine is the only elemental gas that is technically a vapor since STP is below its critical temperature; whilst bromine and mercury are liquid at STP, and so their vapor exists in equilibrium with their liquid at STP.

• Air gases
  • nitrogen (N2)
  • oxygen (O2)
  • argon (Ar)
• Noble gases
  • helium (He)
  • neon (Ne)
  • argon (Ar)
  • krypton (Kr)
  • xenon (Xe)
  • radon (Rn)
• The other Elemental gases
  • hydrogen (H2)
  • chlorine (Cl2) (vapor)
  • fluorine (F2)

Other common industrial gases

[

edit

]

This list shows the other most common gases sold by industrial gas companies.[1]

Important liquefied gases

[

edit

]

Dewar being filled with LIN from storage tank

This list shows the most important liquefied gases:[1]

Industrial gas applications

[

edit

]

A cutting torch is used to cut a steel pipe.

The uses of industrial gases are diverse.

The following is a small list of areas of use:

Companies

[

edit

]

See also

[

edit

]

References

[

edit

]

• Industrial gases at Wikimedia Commons

Cylinder gases are often distributed by independent distributors (of varying sizes) that buy merchant gases in bulk liquid form from producers and package the gases into cylinders in their facilities.

These businesses have typically focused on the welding industry, and handle a full line of welding-related products.  Increasingly, cylinder gases, in particular oxygen and oxygen mixes, are being used for home medical uses, and specialty stores focused on that market have become more common.  Depending upon customer needs and preferences, distributors may deliver cylinders to the customer&#;s site or customers may return used cylinders and pick up new ones at a specialty store.

 

Small to medium size customers

are often use vaporized liquid as their source of nitrogen, oxygen and argon.

In these systems, trucked-in bulk liquid product is transferred from delivery vehicles to a storage tank on the user's premises, then vaporized into a local distribution system. 

Depending upon customer demand level and location, the tank and vaporizer system may be installed by, and the account may be serviced by, a local independent distributor company, by the company which produces the liquid products used at the site, by the user.

Bulk liquid vaporization systems can accommodate a relatively wide range of average usage rates and are particularly suited to handling highly variable usage patterns. 

The cryogenic storage tank and vaporizer system that is installed on the customer site, near the usage point, is commonly called a customer station.  These items feed vaporized product to the customer's gas distribution system, which is held at relatively constant pressure by automatic controls which adjust the rate of liquid vaporization to track changing demand.

Each customer station storage tank typically holds between about 300 gallons (very small volume users) or as much as 15,000 gallons ( to 57,000 liters) - with larger tanks (or multiple tanks) used for higher volume customers.  Optimal tank sizing is determined by analyzing the user's current or anticipated product consumption pattern. The volume must be adequate to handle average and peak demands, and sufficient to allow for a cost-effective tank refilling schedule under normal operating conditions.

Customer station tanks and vaporizers are typically rented from the liquid supplier but they may be owned by the customer purchasing the liquid. UIG encourages companies to consider ownership of the customer station system as it enables users to change suppliers relatively easily if they are dissatisfied with their liquid supply service or pricing. 

When the storage and vaporizer system is rented from a major industrial gas supplier, users often discover that it is difficult to change suppliers.  Not only must the liquid user/ tank renter provide advance notice of intention to cancel existing liquid supply contracts, but they will almost certainly find that their customer station will need to be replaced by one owned by their new supplier.

Relatively large but temporary requirements

are sometimes met with

&#;

tube trailers

&#;

(bundles of high pressure cylinders permanently mounted on a wheeled platform).

Common situations when tube trailers are used are testing of new equipment, process development and plant "turnaround" maintenance demands. 

"Onsite" plants

are often the most economical means of supplying oxygen and nitrogen customers that use more than about 20 tons per day of product (about 7  truckloads of liquid each week).  At higher consumption rates the savings versus using vaporized liquid can be dramatic.

Onsite supply systems utilize a  gas production plant which is erected on or close to the customer's site to supply most or all of the operating requirements through in-plant or local multi-plant distribution pipelines. 

To ensure a continuous supply of product when on-site production is disrupted due to power failures or maintenance requirements, onsite gas plants (oxygen or nitrogen generators) are integrated with customer stations that store backup liquid which can be vaporized into the distribution system when needed.

Backup systems have very rapid response times, therefor they also supplement onsite gas production when there is a sudden increase in demand. This allows the onsite production plant to operate at a slowly changing rate that tracks average demand, while still being able to accommodate usage spikes. Users switching from bulk liquid product to onsite production will find that, after an onsite plant is installed and operating, liquid usage will be a small fraction of previous consumption.

On-site gas (and liquid) supply systems may be owned and operated by UCG or they may be user-owned and operated.

Small to medium size users of oxygen or nitrogen that do not need high purity may find that their most economical supply alternative is product from a non-cryogenic gas generator. Non-cryogenic oxygen can be produced by two types of generators - PSA and VPSA (VSA) plants.  Oxygen VPSA technology is more cost effective for larger volumes and higher power cost areas.

Similarly, non-cryogenic nitrogen may be produced using membrane technology, or by a pressure-swing-adsorption (PSA) unit. A PSA with a supplemental purification step is an alternative to liquid deliveries when "liquid-like" gas purity is required.     

Nitrogen users with relatively low usage rates, which need high purity nitrogen may find that the most economical technology is a cryogenic &#;LIN assist&#; plant installed on their site. 

LIN-assist plants use a modified cryogenic production cycle that cost effectively produces most of the gaseous nitrogen that is required.  A relatively small amount of liquid nitrogen (typically in the range of 5 to 10% of the total volume of delivered nitrogen) is used on a continuous basis to provide process refrigeration for the distillation process that makes the on-site-produced nitrogen.  This vaporized liquid nitrogen mixes with the onsite-produced nitrogen gas and is routed to users. 

Nitrogen customers that need very high purity nitrogen, or very large volumes of nitrogen will normally find that the characteristics of a traditional cryogenic nitrogen generator provides the best fit with their operating patterns.

Oxygen users that need high purity product or relatively high volumes of product will need a traditional cryogenic air separation unit.  Cryogenic oxygen plants are available in low purity (about 95%) and high purity (99.6% +) models. Lower purity product is most commonly used in combustion and effluent treatment applications.  There are oxygen-only plants, and multi-product configurations (oxygen plus nitrogen and argon). 

Customers that are located close to several large volume users may have the option of receiving product from a multi-customer pipeline.  Regional pipelines offer economies of scale for production and low operating costs for the delivery system. The air separation plants that supply the regional pipeline are backed up by high pressure gas and liquid storage at production sites, and/or at individual consumption sites. 

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit sulfur hexafluoride buy online.