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Argon

Argon (Ar) is a noble gas that comprises 0.93 percent of the earth's atmosphere. (Noble gases are a group of rare gases that include argon, helium, krypton, neon, xenon and sometimes radon. They exhibit great stability and extremely low reaction rates. Also called inert gases.

Colorless, odorless, tasteless and nontoxic, argon forms no known chemical compounds. A specific gravity of 1.38 makes argon 25 percent heavier than air. At atmospheric pressure, it becomes a liquid at -302° F (-186° C). Non corrosive and non-flammable, argon also exhibits low thermal conductivity and slight solubility in water.

Applications
Argon is used in diverse applications covering a number of industries, including:
  • Aluminum to replace air or nitrogen, creating an inert atmosphere conducive to manufacturing aluminum; to assist in the removal of unwanted soluble gases during de gasification; and to remove dissolved hydrogen and particulates from molten aluminum.
  • Steel to displace gas or vapors and prevent oxidation during processing; to obtain temperature consistency and homogenous composition by stirring molten steel; to assist in the removal of unwanted soluble gases during de gasification; as a carrier gas, to determine the composition of a sample through gas chromatography; and to flush out carbon monoxide and reduce chromium losses in the Argon-Oxygen Destabilization (A.O.D.) used during stainless steel refining.

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 high-chromium steels while minimizing the chromium oxidation.

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.