Why are nitrogen cylinders so expensive?

Bulky nitrogen cylinders take up a lot of floor space in a facility. Given their weight, and that the vessels contain gas under high pressure, they amount to an ever-present safety risk. Further, the rental and delivery service can be expensive. Tank replacement regularly leads to downtime and added labor costs.

How much does a storage tank cost?

Storage tank costs are tabulated in this data-file, averaging $100-300/m3 for storage systems of 10-10,000 m3 capacity. Costs are 2-10x higher for corrosive chemicals, cryogenic storage, or very large/small storage facilities. Some rules of thumb are outlined below with underlying data available in the Excel.

Do industrial gas companies charge for nitrogen cylinder rental?

Over & above the base delivery and nitrogen costs, most industrial gas companies will charge for rental of the cylinders, in which the supplied nitrogen gas is stored and delivered.

Should you pay a premium for nitrogen?

In fact, the tank needed to produce nitrogen at a 99.99% purity level is roughly 10 times as large as the tank needed to produce nitrogen at a 95% purity level. The bottom line is that If the application’s oxygen tolerance is high, paying a premium for nitrogen that is nearly 100% pure isn’t necessary. A lower purity level will do.

How pure is tanked nitrogen?

Tanked nitrogen is 99.99% pure, which is great — when it’s needed. Nitrogen is delivered at that ultra-high purity level because the gas company produces a single variety for all its customers, regardless of what purity level each individual customer needs.

Should you buy a bulk nitrogen supply via microbulk tanks or Dewars?

What this ultimately means is that, similar to cylinders, when buying your bulk nitrogen supply via microbulk tanks or dewars, there will always be nitrogen gas that has been paid for but not utilised – all of which has to be absorbed by your bottom line.