GAS GUIDE
Nitrogen Compression
The baseline process gas — inert, cheap and forgiving. Selection here is driven by pressure and flow, not chemistry.
The baseline process gas — inert, cheap and forgiving. If selection is driven by anything here it is usually dryness, pressure or flow rather than chemistry.
The properties that drive the choice
| Molecular weight | 28.013 |
|---|---|
| Isentropic exponent k (ambient) | 1.4 |
| Hazard profile | none of note |
| Oil-free | Not required by the gas |
Which families serve it
| Family | Role in this service | Envelope | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reciprocating | The general-purpose answer across the pressure range | to 400 bar(g) | family page → |
| Oil-injected screw | Boosting where oil contact is acceptable | to 50 bar(g) | family page → |
| Dry screw | Large continuous flows at moderate pressure | to 45 bar(g), differential ≤ 15 bar | family page → |
Where the boundaries sit
- Chemistry rarely decides anything here — pressure, flow and temperature do
- Watch the dew point only where downstream equipment is moisture-sensitive
- Boring is a feature: nitrogen is the gas where the envelope numbers, not the hazards, do the selecting
Materials
Carbon steel is normally sufficient for dry nitrogen; watch only the dew point if downstream equipment is moisture sensitive.
Related reading
Running a duty point on this gas? The selector on the home page maps gas, pressures, flow and temperature to a machine family with its boundary conditions — free.
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