Oxygen from inert gases

The solutions are oxidized by air, and in acid solution decomposition, producing some elemental sulfur, is rapid. The Zn2+ and Na+ salts are commonly used as powerful and rapid reducing agents in alkaline solution 2S0 -+2H20 + 2e = 40H-+S20 - E° = -1.12 V and in the presence of 2-anthraquinonesulfonate as catalyst (Fieser s solution) aqueous Na2S204 efficiently removes oxygen from inert gases. 

Dalton, A.I. and Sircar, S. (1977). Method for removing low concentration of oxidizable organic contaminants from an oxygen containing inert gas. US Patent 4,025,605. 

Oxygen or hydrogen can be removed from inert gas streams by the addition of stoichiometric volumes of hydrogen or oxygen, respectively. Not surprisingly, the catalyst can also be used to remove traces of sulfur from gas streams. More than 10 wt% of sulfur can be absorbed by the catalyst at about 300 C. 

In the one-stage process (Fig. 2), ethylene, oxygen, and recycle gas are directed to a vertical reactor for contact with the catalyst solution under slight pressure. The water evaporated during the reaction absorbs the heat evolved, and make-up water is fed as necessary to maintain the desired catalyst concentration. The gases are water-scmbbed and the resulting acetaldehyde solution is fed to a distUlation column. The tad-gas from the scmbber is recycled to the reactor. Inert materials are eliminated from the recycle gas in a bleed-stream which flows to an auxdiary reactor for additional ethylene conversion. 

Initiators, usually from 0.02 to 2.0 wt % of the monomer of organic peroxides or azo compounds, are dissolved in the reaction solvents and fed separately to the kettie. Since oxygen is often an inhibitor of acryUc polymerizations, its presence is undesirable. When the polymerization is carried out below reflux temperatures, low oxygen levels are obtained by an initial purge with an inert gas such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen. A blanket of the inert gas is then maintained over the polymerization mixture. The duration of the polymerization is usually 24 h (95). 

Butadiene reacts readily with oxygen to form polymeric peroxides, which are not very soluble in Hquid butadiene and tend to setde at the bottom of the container because of their higher density. The peroxides are shock sensitive therefore it is imperative to exclude any source of oxygen from butadiene. Addition of antioxidants like /-butylcatechol (TBC) or butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) removes free radicals that can cause rapid exothermic polymerizations. Butadiene shipments now routinely contain about 100 ppm TBC. Before use, the inhibitor can easily be removed (247,248). Inert gas, such as nitrogen, can also be used to blanket contained butadiene (249). 

Many instant coffee producers in the United States incorporate natural coffee aroma in coffee oil into the powder. These highly volatile and chemically unstable flavor components necessitate inert-gas packing to prevent aroma deterioration and stating from exposure to oxygen. 

Canthaxanthin crystallines from various solvents as brownish violet, shiny leaves that melt with decomposition at 210°C. As is the case with carotenoids in general, the crystals are sensitive to light and oxygen and, when heated in solution or exposed to ultraviolet light or iodine, form a mixture of cis and trans stereoisomers. Consequentiy, crystalline canthaxanthin should be stored under inert gas at low temperatures. Unlike the carotenoid colorants P-carotene and P-apo-8 -carotenal, canthaxanthin has no vitamin A activity. It is chemically stable at pH 2—8 (the range normally encountered in foods) and unaffected by heat in systems with a minimal oxygen content. 

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