The field of cryogenics covers a wide range of applications across industries, including laboratories and life sciences, food production and packaging, and superconductor manufacture. That’s because the use of inert gases like nitrogen, helium, and argon at cryogenic temperatures delivers many benefits.
Cryogens matter, then, but if not handled appropriately they can be unsafe – so those working with them must be aware of the hazards and how to approach things.
Typical gases at normal temperatures and pressures hold their own hazards, of course. Cryogens, for their part, have potential safety problems beyond the freeze hazard. These liquids (they are liquids at low temperatures, remember) are extremely cold, with boiling points less than minus 150°C (-238°F). And, as they return to a gas, they expand rapidly, displacing vital environmental gases like oxygen.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
