A Blanket of Nitrogen

Inert gases play a very important role as blanketing agents to prevent unwanted chemical reactions. Nitrogen 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 being 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 dioxide and ethylene (C2H4). 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 approximately 1.5% by volume, carbon dioxide concentrations 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 cryogenic 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 nitrogen 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 separation technology in the United States have made direct 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 saturated with oxygen, the O2 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 oxygen 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 nitrogenrich atmosphere for its fermentation tanks to prevent oxygen-driven decomposition of the wine. The future of the gas-blanketing market appears anything but inert.