Cryogenic liquids, that is, liquids with temperatures below -150°C and low boiling point characteristics, are inseparable from the storage of insulated and thermally insulated containers.
In recent years, cryogenic liquids have been widely used in industry, medicine, scientific research and other fields, and their storage tanks have also come into public view. For example, “Liquid nitrogen canisters” used for liquid nitrogen storage are one of the representative insulated containers.
Because of the thermal insulation structure and the storage container of -196°C liquid nitrogen, some users who are new to the cryogenic industry will have the idea that one Liquid nitrogen canister can store all cryogenic liquids!
Is that so?
Of course it’s not possible!
There are many types of cryogenic liquids. In addition to liquid nitrogen, there are also liquid oxygen, liquid argon, etc. Apart from being similar in temperature to liquid nitrogen, they have greatly different boiling points, physical properties and even applications. Some cryogenic liquids require storage containers to be insulated and sealed, but Liquid nitrogen canisters are not designed to be completely sealed for the safety of liquid nitrogen storage and sample freezing.
Because liquid nitrogen is used for sample freezing services or low-temperature experiments, there are requirements for liquid entry and exit, and sample retrieval. Therefore, Liquid nitrogen canisters are designed to be open, and external heat will inevitably enter when the lid is opened. In addition, the boiling point of liquid nitrogen is as low as -196.56°C, and the insulated tank cannot prevent its natural volatilization. It must also prevent the nitrogen gas that volatilizes from the liquid nitrogen from being discharged, which may easily cause danger. Therefore, the manufacturer has left an outlet for it at the mouth of the tank. The pores cannot be completely sealed. This cannot meet the needs of some cryogenic liquids.
In addition, as for the material, the liquid nitrogen tank is made of aviation aluminum or aluminum alloy. This is a material that is stable and resistant to low temperatures and will not react with liquid nitrogen. If it is other low-temperature liquids, it is difficult to ensure that there will be no chemical reaction in the product, causing the container to Adiabatic disappearance.
Therefore, it is not recommended to use Liquid nitrogen canisters to store other cryogenic liquids! Moreover, most cryogenic liquids have their own dedicated tanks available, so there is no need to “look far away”!
