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Uses for Nitrogen Gas

Nitrogen makes up 78 percent of the earth's atmosphere and can be found in all living organisms. It is a key ingredient in amino acids and proteins, which are essential to functions in the body such as metabolism and cell function. Nitrogen is also captured and artificially produced for use in business and industrial applications.

  1. Pharmaceuticals

    • Nitrogen is present in pharmaceutical products that are extracted from plants, which use the element defensively in repelling bacteria. Antibiotics contain traces of nitrogen. In the 19th century, scientists discovered that nitrous oxide, a combination of two parts nitrogen and one part oxygen, could be used for its anesthetic properties. Drugs like nitroglycerin, used to control blood pressure, have since been manufactured.

    Food and Beverage Applications

    • Some food and drink packages are pressurized with nitrogen. For example, it is used as a substitute for carbon dioxide in pressurizing British ales in kegs, cans and bottles. Nitrogen generates fewer bubbles than carbon dioxide, preserving the taste more so than does carbon dioxide. Liquefied nitrogen can maintain temperatures (-196 degrees Celsius) far lower than the freezing temperature of water. Some foods are frozen with liquid nitrogen before it is transported. It can freeze human tissue on contact.

    Ammonia

    • Nitrogen is used to make ammonia, which includes one part nitrogen and two parts hydrogen. Ammonia is used as a fertilizer. Nitric acid is an important ingredient in explosive devices. Urea, another nitrogen product, can be used as a part of the feeding regimen for cattle as well as a fertilizer. In your home, you've probably used ammonia as a disinfectant. Ammonia is also used in the sterilization of plastic products.

    Explosives

    • Nitroglycerin is made from nitrogen. This highly explosive product can be detonated with the slightest mishandling. Dynamite was patented in the 1860s after Alfred Nobel learned to mix diatomaceous earth with nitroglycerine to control its detonation. Construction companies today use nitroglycerin to demolish buildings.

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