Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

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HDBD
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Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by HDBD »

I am looking for recommendations.
How to buy, transport, and store LN2 for a low-volume shop freezing seats and guides?
TIA
norm
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by norm »

We use it all the time at work (Tool&Die) and get it from the welding supply we use.

So look into welding gas supply shops in your area.
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by BillK »

Doesn't answer your question but I have never had an issue just putting them in the freezer for an hour or so. Probably hundreds of other shops doing the same thing or not cooling them at all.
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by leahymtsps »

Look up Dewar tank.

Tom
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by mag2555 »

It’s too bad that Saturns moon Titan is so far the heck away!
At times it rains Ln2 there. 😁
You can cut a man's tongue from his mouth, but that does not mean he’s a liar, it just shows that you fear the truth he might speak about you!
MotionMachine
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by MotionMachine »

Buying and storing LN is expensive. A decent used dewar will run $500 and I pay $8 a litre for it from my local welding store. Dewars are rated by how much they loose per day. Mine is .2 litre a day. If you are using it just for seats and guides, probably not worth the expense.
HDBD
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by HDBD »

I know how to store LN2. I have never done it at my shop. I wanted to know about the evaporation rate as the liquid boils off and how that relates to cost. This does not look like a practical solution due to cost and inconvenience. I am considering two other options. Both would provide an emergent solution as the need arises.
  • Make an alcohol chill bath using a 12V power supply, a small engine alcohol fuel pump, a water block, Peltier TE elements, heat sinks, and fans for the hot side.
  • Making dry ice from CO2.
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by pcnsd »

You might consider a ultra low temperature freezer with an Isopropyl bath. Common temps are -45C to -85C. Small units are on the edge of affordable. Service life is 5-10 years typically.

Your location for LN2 makes a difference. Air Gas and Air Liquide are both sources in the States.
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by allencr267 »

How cold is propane when you turn the bottle upside down & spray out liquid? :D
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by ijames »

HDBD wrote: Sun Dec 04, 2022 10:41 am I know how to store LN2. I have never done it at my shop. I wanted to know about the evaporation rate as the liquid boils off and how that relates to cost. This does not look like a practical solution due to cost and inconvenience. I am considering two other options. Both would provide an emergent solution as the need arises.
  • Make an alcohol chill bath using a 12V power supply, a small engine alcohol fuel pump, a water block, Peltier TE elements, heat sinks, and fans for the hot side.
  • Making dry ice from CO2.
Peltier cells are very inefficient and expensive. To get much colder than your house freezer you would basically have to run them inside the freezer so it cools the hot side, and even then to get very cold you would probably have to stack at least two cells in series along with enough sets of those in parallel to get the necessary cooling capacity. I've read that making your own dry ice from a cylinder with a dip tube is several times more expensive than buying it but you won't need very much at a time so that's probably not a problem. Still, if anyone sells it in your area that would be my first choice. The advantage of making it yourself is that the tank and expansion device can sit until you need it, unlike LN2.
Carl Ijames, chemist not engine builder
carl ddott ijames aatt verizon ddott net
David Redszus
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by David Redszus »

Your local supermarket often has dry ice available. Your hardware store has acetone.

An acetone bath with dry ice will maintain a temperature of -78F which is good enough for most gov work.
And it is cheap as well.
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by bentvalves »

David Redszus wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 2:37 pm Your local supermarket often has dry ice available. Your hardware store has acetone.

An acetone bath with dry ice will maintain a temperature of -78F which is good enough for most gov work.
And it is cheap as well.
can you expand on the mixing acetone with dry ice a little more Dave?

why not mix the dry ice with water instead?
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by bentvalves »

I have stored a small amount of liquid nitrogen in an amazon/ebay purchased dewar tank.

I hung it up off the ground and the liquid nitrogen was still there 1 month later.

find one with the biggest neck available. if you can find one with a 5" opening in the top, you would be in business when it came time to install sleeves!
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Re: Acquiring Liquid LN2 in Todays World

Post by David Redszus »

bentvalves wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 3:20 pm
David Redszus wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 2:37 pm Your local supermarket often has dry ice available. Your hardware store has acetone.

An acetone bath with dry ice will maintain a temperature of -78F which is good enough for most gov work.
And it is cheap as well.
can you expand on the mixing acetone with dry ice a little more Dave?

why not mix the dry ice with water instead?
If dry ice is mixed with water, the water will freeze when the temperature drops to 32F.
But the freezing point of acetone is much lower and the dry ice can reduce the acetone mixture to -78F.
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