Ar

Argon
CAS Number : 7440-37-1
UN1006 (gas); UN1951 (liquid refrigerated)

Main applications
Gas Properties
Vapor Pressure Graph
Liquid Gas Conversion
Safety Data Sheets
Major Hazards
Material compatibility

GENERALITIES:
The name argon comes from the Greek (argos) meaning "the lazy one" in reference to its
chemical inactivity.
The atmosphere contains about 0.9 % of argon. A neutral and colorless gas like nitrogen, it does not
however exist in nature other than in the air. It cannot sustain life, but it is highly used in certain
industrial applications due to its high level of chemical inertness and the relative ease with which it can
be produced.

Argon:
SUPPLY MODE

Cylinders, Liquefied gas tank,

Main applications
Industries

Applications

Food and Beverage

Argon can be used in a controlled atmosphere to replace

nitrogen in most applications. Its solubility (twice that of nitrogen)
and certain molecular characteristics give it special properties for
use with vegetables. Under certain conditions, it slows down
metabolic reactions and significantly reduces breathing (
ALIGAL).

Glass, Cement and Lime

Argon is used for the filling of double glazing enclosures for high
performance thermal isolation

Metals industry

Argon is used to prevent contact, hence interaction, between

liquid metal and the surrounding atmosphere. Applications
include melt stirring, tun dish purging to prevent steel re-oxidation
and secondary steel refining in vacuum degassers, such as the
VOD, RH, RH-OB. However, the largest quantities of argon are
consumed in the AOD process for decarburising raw highchromium steels while minimizing the chromium oxidation.

Laboratories & analysis

Used pure and in mixtures for industrial and hospital analyses

and quality control.
More particularly, argon is used as plasma gas in inductive
coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP), blanket gas in
graphite funace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) and as
carrier gas in gas chromatography for various detector.
In mixture with methane, argon is used in Geiger counter and in
the detector of X Ray Fluorescence (XRF) as quentching gas.

Welding, Cutting & Coating

Argon is a shield gas used in arc welding, root shielding and

plasma cutting.
Argon protects welds against oxidation as well as reduces fume
emissions during welding.

Electronics

Ultra-pure argon is used as carrier gas for reactive molecules, as

inert gas to protect semiconductors against impurities (e.g.
Argon provides the atmosphere for growing crystals of silicon and
germanium).
Under ionic state, argon is used for sputtering, ion implantation,
annealing and etching processes in semiconductor or high
performance material manufacturing.

Automotive & transportation

Packaged pressurized argon is used to inflate car airbags.

Other industries

Argon is used as inert atmosphere in incandescent light bulb.

Argon filling avoids the corrosion of the tungsten filament and
consequently the blackening of the bulb.
In mixture with some hydrocarbons, argon is used in radio tubes
and Geiger counters.
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Gas Properties
Molecular Weight

Molecular weight : 39.948 g/mol

Solid phase

Melting point : -189.37 C

Latent heat of fusion (1,013 bar, at melting point) : 29.588 kJ/kg

Liquid phase

Liquid density (1.013 bar at boiling point) : 1395.4 kg/m3

Liquid/gas equivalent (1.013 bar and 15 C (59 F)) : 825.5 vol/vol
Boiling point (1.013 bar) : -185.85 C
Latent heat of vaporization (1.013 bar at boiling point) : -161.14
kJ/kg

Density & temperature calculation of the liquid phase

Given the pressure (in bar), this module calculates the temperature and the density of the liquid phase
on the liquid-gas equilibrium curve

Enter the pressure in bar (between 1 and 15)

bar

Calculate

Critical point

Critical temperature : -122.46 C

Critical pressure : 48.63 bar
Critical density : 535.6 kg/m3

Triple point

Triple point temperature : -189.34 C

Triple point pressure : 0.687 bar

Gaseous phase

Gas density (1.013 bar at boiling point) : 5.7722 kg/m3

Gas density (1.013 bar and 15 C (59 F)) : 1.6903 kg/m3
Compressibility Factor (Z) (1.013 bar and 15 C (59 F)) :
0.99925
Specific gravity : 1.38
Specific volume (1.013 bar and 25 C (77 F)) : 0.612 m3/kg
Heat capacity at constant pressure (Cp) (1.013 bar and 25 C (77
F)) : 0.0208 kJ/(mol.K)
Heat capacity at constant volume (Cv) (1.013 bar and 25 C (77
F)) : 0.0125 kJ/(mol.K)
Ratio of specific heats (Gamma:Cp/Cv) (1.013 bar and 25 C (77
F)) : 1.6696
Viscosity (1.013 bar and 0 C (32 F)) : 2.1017E-04 Poise
Thermal conductivity (1.013 bar and 0 C (32 F)) : 16.483
mW/(m.K)

Miscellaneous

Solubility in water (1.013 bar and 0 C (32 F)) : 0.0537 vol/vol

Concentration in air : 0.934 vol %
Go back to choosing the units
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Vapor Pressure Graph

The vapor pressure curve may be obtained by clicking on the
image. On the graph, pressure is in bar or 0.1 MPa, temperature
in K or C. The critical point is indicated by a black spot on the
liquid-vapor equilibrium curve.
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Liquid Gas Conversion

Liquid to gas conversion
This module enables a volume (measured at 1 atmosphere and boiling point) or a mass of liquid gas to be
converted into a volume or a mass of gas measured at 1 atmosphere and 15 C.
Data : liquid Phase
Input the volume

(m3 ) or mass

(kg)

Gas to liquid conversion

Calculate

This module enables a volume (measured at 1 atmosphere and 15 C) or a mass of gas in gaseous phase
to be converted into a mass or a volume of liquid (measured at 1 atmosphere and boiling point).
Data : Gas Phase
Input the volume

(m3 ) or mass

(kg)
Go back to choosing the units

Calculate
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Safety Data Sheets

Safety Data Sheets (SDS) include information on product ingredients, physical and chemical
properties, potential effects on toxicology and ecology, identification of hazards, handling and
storage instructions, as well as personnel protection recommendations and information related to
transportation requirements, first-aid and emergency processes.

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Major Hazards
Major hazard : High Pressure and Suffocation
Toxicity (Am. Conf. Of Gov. Ind. Hygienists ACGIH 2000 Edition) : Simple Asphyxiant
Flammability limits in air (STP conditions) : Non-flammable
Odour : None
UN Number : UN1006 (gas); UN1951 (liquid refrigerated)
EINECS Number : 231-147-0
DOT Label (USA) : NFG
DOT Hazard class (USA) : Non flammable Gas
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Material compatibility
Air Liquide has assembled data on the compatibility of gases with materials to assist you in evaluating
which products to use for a gas system. Although the information has been compiled from what Air
Liquide believes are reliable sources (International Standards: Compatibility of cylinder and valve
materials with gas content; Part 1: ISO 11114-1 (Jul 1998), Part 2: ISO 11114-2 (Mar 2001)), it must be
used with extreme caution. No raw data such as this can cover all conditions of concentration,
temperature, humidity, impurities and aeration. It is therefore recommended that this table is used to
choose possible materials and then more extensive investigation and testing is carried out under the
specific conditions of use. The collected data mainly concern high pressure applications at ambiant
temperature and the safety aspect of material compatibity rather than the quality aspect.

Material
Metals

Compatibility

Aluminium

Satisfactory

Brass

Satisfactory

Copper

Satisfactory

Ferritic Steels (e.g. Carbon steels)

Satisfactory

Stainless Steel

Satisfactory

Plastics

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)

Satisfactory

Polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE) Satisfactory

Vinylidene polyfluoride (PVDF)

(KYNAR)

Satisfactory

Polyamide (PA) (NYLON)

Satisfactory

Polypropylene (PP)

Satisfactory

Elastomers

Buthyl (isobutene - isoprene) rubber Satisfactory

(IIR)
Nitrile rubber (NBR)

Satisfactory

Chloroprene (CR)

Satisfactory

Chlorofluorocarbons (FKM) (VITON) Satisfactory

Silicon (Q)

Satisfactory

Ethylene - Propylene (EPDM)

Satisfactory

Lubricants

Hydrocarbon based lubricant

Satisfactory

Fluorocarbon based lubricant

Satisfactory