A Blanket of Nitrogen

Inert gases play a very important role as blanketing

agents to prevent unwanted chemical reactions. Ni-
trogen gas, because of its ready availability and
low reactivity at normal temperatures, has been the
leader in this market. For example, nitrogen is
finding increasing use for blanketing fruit after it
has been picked to protect it from deterioration
until the consumer buys it. Apples that receive no
protective treatment deteriorate to the point of be-
ing unmarketable within about six weeks after
picking (of which four weeks are required for
ripening). However, the marketable range of apples
can be extended to nearly thirty months by storing
them at temperatures just above freezing and by
controlling the storage atmosphere. As apples
ripen, they consume oxygen and emit carbon diox-
ide and ethylene (C
2
H
4
). Ethylene is a ripening
hormone that rapidly accelerates the ripening, and
thus the deterioration, of the fruit.
State-of-the-art cold-storage facilities for apples
have purging and recycling systems to lower the
oxygen content of the gas in the room to below
5% within two days. Optimal long-term storage
conditions involve oxygen concentrations of ap-
proximately 1.5% by volume, carbon dioxide con-
centrations of about 3% by volume, and ethylene
concentrations below 1 ppm.
One relatively expensive method for producing
the nitrogen gas used in these storage facilities is
the vaporization of liquid nitrogen stored in cryo-
genic tanks. A less expensive source of nitrogen gas
is the exhaust gas from the combustion reaction of
propane and air. The carbon dioxide in the exhaust
is removed with activated charcoal. In Europe ni-
trogen gas is commonly produced by catalytically
decomposing ammonia to nitrogen and hydrogen
and then removing the hydrogen gas by reaction
with oxygen.
However, advances in high-volume gas separa-
tion technology in the United States have made di-
rect separation of nitrogen from air economically
feasible. One separation method is called the
pressure-swing adsorption process, in which carbon
molecular sieves (substances with precisely sized
passages) are used to selectively adsorb the oxygen
from air while allowing the nitrogen to pass
through. When the molecular sieves become satu-
rated with oxygen, the O
2
molecules are dislodged
by a sudden jump in pressurethus the name of
the process. Using more than one bed of molecular
sieves in parallel permits a steady flow of nitrogen
for controlled-atmosphere applications.
Another gas separation process uses special
hollow-fiber membranes designed to allow the oxy-
gen and water vapor in a stream of air to leak
through the walls of the fibers as the air flows
through, producing a stream of nitrogen at the end
of the tube.
One major advantage of these latter two
processes is that they can be used to generate a
controlled atmosphere for a product such as fruit
while it is in transport by ship, rail, or truck.
These gas separation processes have also been
adapted for use in other industries. For example,
the Fetzer Winery in Redwood Valley, California,
uses a membrane separator to produce a nitrogen-
rich atmosphere for its fermentation tanks to pre-
vent oxygen-driven decomposition of the wine.
The future of the gas-blanketing market ap-
pears anything but inert.