What Are the Uses of Nitrogen?

Nitrogen is used for keeping food products fresh, manufacturing electronics, and preventing explosions – among other processes. It supports many industries – plenty of everyday products wouldn’t be the same without nitrogen.

In this guide, we explore the most common uses of nitrogen across sectors. You’ll learn about the specific processes that leverage nitrogen and discover the properties that make it so useful.

Food Preservation and Packaging

Nitrogen displaces oxygen in food packaging, significantly extending the shelf life of food products while maintaining quality.

Food companies use nitrogen gas for Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP). This process displaces oxygen, which would otherwise cause food spoilage and oxidation. This technology is used in everything from potato chips to prepared meals, so it is a highly popular commercial use of nitrogen.

Beverage Dispensing and Packaging

In the beverage industry, nitrogen is used for draft beer systems, bottled drinks, and cold brew coffee packaging. Unlike carbon dioxide, nitrogen is used to create different textures in beverages and helps prevent spoilage by displacing oxygen.

It’s also injected into cans or bottles to displace oxygen and prevent spoilage. The result is longer shelf life, preserved flavor, and a distinctive “nitrogen cascade” effect when poured, which is visually appealing and contributes to a premium experience.

Industrial Manufacturing

Nitrogen’s unique properties – like inertness – make it invaluable for many industrial applications. One of the most important uses of nitrogen is in the production of stainless steel, where it improves durability and corrosion resistance.

In pipeline construction and maintenance, engineers use nitrogen to remove oxygen and moisture from pipelines, preventing corrosion and ensuring safe operation.

Finally, power plants rely heavily on nitrogen for processes like generator cooling and fire suppression. The inert nature of nitrogen also makes it perfect for preventing oxidation in sensitive equipment.

Metal Processing

Metal fabricators use liquid nitrogen for shrink fitting – a process where metal parts are cooled to extremely low temperatures, causing them to contract. When warmed back to room temperature, these parts form incredibly strong bonds.

This cooling capability also comes in handy during heat treatment processes. Liquid nitrogen is used to rapidly quench metals, which alters their microstructure and enhances properties like hardness and strength.

This is especially valuable in the production of precision tools, aerospace components, and automotive parts, where performance under stress is critical.

In addition to cooling, nitrogen gas plays a vital role in creating controlled atmospheres during welding and annealing. By displacing oxygen, nitrogen helps prevent oxidation and discoloration, ensuring a cleaner, more uniform finish. 

Healthcare Applications

Nitrogen is used throughout the healthcare industry, including in the following processes:

• Biological material preservation: hospitals use liquid nitrogen to preserve blood samples, tissue specimens, and other biological materials.
• Medicine production: in pharmaceutical manufacturing, nitrogen creates the controlled environments necessary for producing medicines. It helps prevent oxidation and degradation of sensitive compounds during production.
• Cryotherapy: cryotherapy uses liquid nitrogen to create extremely cold temperatures for therapeutic purposes. This technique is commonly used to remove warts.

Electronics Manufacturing

Ultra-pure environments are required for manufacturing sensitive components in the electronics industry. Nitrogen provides the inert atmosphere necessary for producing semiconductors and other electronic components.

Nitrogen is also used in electronic component packaging. During the storage and sealing of sensitive components, nitrogen flushing helps maintain a dry, oxygen-free atmosphere, which prevents corrosion and moisture damage. 

Specialized Manufacturing

Nitrogen is widely used in specialized manufacturing, especially for processes like:

• Soldering: during the soldering process in circuit board manufacturing, nitrogen prevents oxidation that could compromise electrical connections. This results in higher-quality products with better reliability.
• Fire suppression: data centers use nitrogen-based fire suppression systems to protect sensitive equipment. They are less likely to damage electronic components than water-based systems.
• Laser cutting and 3D printing: nitrogen is used to create controlled atmospheres for laser cutting and 3D printing.

Oil and Gas Applications

In oil and gas operations, nitrogen is used for pressure testing, pipeline purging, and well stimulation. It helps safely pressurize systems without the risk of explosion, since it is non-flammable. During maintenance or shutdowns, nitrogen purging removes flammable gases and vapors from pipelines and tanks to make them safe for workers.

In enhanced oil recovery, nitrogen is sometimes injected into oil reservoirs to maintain pressure and increase oil extraction rates. It’s also used to inert storage tanks and shipping vessels to prevent combustion of volatile hydrocarbon vapors.

Safety Applications of Nitrogen

Power plants and industrial facilities use nitrogen for purging and inerting systems. This safety measure helps prevent explosions and fires in potentially hazardous environments.

Pipeline operators use nitrogen for pressure testing and maintenance. The inert nature of nitrogen makes it ideal for checking system integrity without risking oxidation or combustion.

In tire inflation – particularly for aircraft and racing vehicles – nitrogen provides advantages such as reduced moisture content and oxidation.

Next time you watch a NASCAR race or see an airplane landing, remember those tires are filled with nitrogen rather than ordinary air – maintaining more consistent pressure even during extreme temperature changes.

Leverage Nitrogen’s Many Use Cases

Nitrogen’s versatility lies in its unique physical and chemical properties, especially its inertness and extreme cold in liquid form. These qualities make it indispensable across a wide range of uses, from preserving the freshness of your favorite snacks to supporting precision engineering in aerospace and electronics.

Whether it’s improving product shelf life, enhancing manufacturing quality, or ensuring safety in high-risk environments, nitrogen plays a critical role.