Liquid Argon is produced in large quantities at air separation plants which liquefy and distil air into oxygen, nitrogen, and argon.
Features
Refrigerated liquid gas
Boiling point -186°C
Non-flammable
Heavier than air
Inert at most temperatures and pressures
Colourless and odourless
Constitutes 0.93% of atmospheric air
Specification
Argon 99.999%
Oxygen <2vpm
Moisture <1vpm
Nitrogen <6vpm
It is delivered to customers by cryogenic tankers into onsite vacuum-insulated storage vessels which typically, with associated vaporisation equipment, can provide several days' supply.
Applications & Use
Electronics
In the semiconductor industry, argon is used in a number of device fabrication steps but its largest volume use is as a protective atmosphere in the manufacture of single crystal silicon by a number of processes known as crystal pulling.
Fabrication
Argon is used as a shielding gas for MIG and TIG Welding processes and plasma-cutting.Argon is used alone or mixed with other gases such as helium, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen or hydrogen.
Lasers
Argon can be used for the assist gas for the laser cutting of titanium as well as laser welding in CO2, ND:YAG and Diode machines.
Metals
The argon-oxygen decarburising (AOD) process is the most common method of refining stainless steel. Argon is used to prevent oxidation of molten metals and alloys and for degassing and desulphurisation of molten iron and steel.
Spectrographic analysis
Arc-spark analysis uses argon in the process of measuring the characteristic wavelength of light generated by striking an arc onto the metallic sample being analysed.
Window unit insulation/Double-glazing
Argon is used to fill the inter-space in double-glazed window units because of its low thermal conductivity relative to air or nitrogen.
