Nitrogen is an inert gas that won’t react with most materials, making it the ideal gas for blanketing and purging. In these applications, nitrogen creates a barrier around processes or reactions to prevent contaminants from interrupting. Nitrogen can also replace highly reactive oxygen to reduce the flammability of spaces like storage tanks and reactor vessels.
Refineries may also use nitrogen for pipeline testing and maintenance to ensure safe and clean systems. Nitrogen is valuable for pressure and leak testing because it’s cost-effective and creates no unwanted reactions with contaminants inside pipe systems.
