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Where do I get some liquid nitrogen?

Where to get liquid nitrogen?

  • I am trying to make dippin' dots. I need liquid nitrogen though, so does anyone know where to get it? Do I have to freeze it or do something special to it? How much is it? Any other questions you can think of. Thank you!

  • Answer:

    You probably do not have anything you can use to make your own liquid nitrogen (LN2). You can buy it from specialty gas suppliers but they probably sell it in larger quantities than you need (unless you are making many gallons). LN2 is used in many different places. Hospitals and some factories use LN2. Universities often have laboratories where they use LN2 for cooling scientific instruments. If you find a place that is willing to give you or sell you a small quantity (it used to be only about as expensive as beer), you will need a very good thermos bottle, not one of the plastic ones but a real "old fashioned" thermos with a mirrored glass vacuum bottle. If you have a big one of these, one that will hold a quart of hot coffee or more, you can probably store the LN2 overnight and still have some left. Be SURE you do NOT screw the lid on tight. When a little bit of LN2 goes from liquid to gas (boiling), it produces a large volume of gas. If you screw the lid on tight, it will build up pressure and will probably explode. If you use a cheap plastic thermos (without the real vacuum bottle), it might keep LN2 for an hour or two, depending on how big it is and how thoroughly you chill it with LN2 before you leave the place that fills it. You will probably need good winter gloves to handle this because, since it is not a very good insulator, the whole plastic thermos will get very cold. It also may break just because plastics shrink a lot when cooled and, since LN2 is so cold, the plastic will shrink a LOT and it becomes very brittle when it is cold. You need to be careful if you do this. Talk to the people who have the LN2 and ask them to review safety considerations.

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It's not easy to get a hold of, unless you work in a lab. The nitrogen itself isn't that expensive, but the tanks required to store it are. This means that if you want to buy some, you'd have to be ready to put down a fair sum of money (billrussell42's figure of $700 sounds about right). Depending on where you get it, though, you should be able to get most of that back when you return the tank. The nitrogen itself would probably run you around $50-100, depending on how much you need. Once you get the tank, storage isn't really a big deal. Tanks or flasks are very well insulated, so you could expect it to last for a few weeks, just sitting around. Freezing or refrigerating the flasks or tanks wouldn't make it last any longer. The big concern is safety. If you use it, you should get a full face shield to protect you against splashes. You should also get good heavy-duty gloves. Make sure that you read up on how to safely handle the stuff, since it behaves strangely sometimes. If you get any on you, it will evaporate almost instantly, producing a cushion of air so that the nitrogen never actually touches you. This means you could place a drop in the palm of your bare hand, and it would skitter around. Once your skin gets cold enough, though, the air cushion disappears, and the nitrogen will touch you directly. It can lull you into a false sense of security, and you can go from no pain to severe frostbite in an instant, and with no warning. Like I said, if you go ahead with it, make sure you study up and learn how to use it safely. The final concern is finding liquid nitrogen that's safe for using in food. It has to be pure enough that there are no contaminants that could get into the ice cream. If you search around online, you can probably find a few places to order the stuff. I'd recommend checking out Airgas. They're a huge provider for labs and hospitals, and if you give them a call, they can probably provide you with better information than me.

andymanec

It's expensive, and dangerous, and you can't make it yourself. It's temperature is about –200ºC or –330ºF It will give you serious burns if you get any on you. It is stored in special containers. You can buy 5 liters in the proper flask for $700. You can store it for up to 4 weeks, after which it will all have evaporated.

billrussell42

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