Industrial gas

Acetylene

Acetylene is mainly used in oxy-acetylene flames for cutting mild steel and for welding.

Hydrogen

A small proportion of the hydrogen is used by BOC Gases to react with traces of oxygen in other gas streams. The two gases react forming water, which can be easily condensed out of a gas mixture. The majority of the hydrogen is sold to the edible fats and oils industry where it is used to hydrogenate vegetable oils to make margarine (see article VI-G).
 
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is used widely in the food industry for applications such as removing the caffeine from coffee beans to make decafinated coffee and for carbonating beer, soft drinks etc. It is also used for cooling in the food and manufacturing industries.
Nitrogen Nitrogen has two main uses: cooling and as an inert atmosphere. As liquid nitrogen it is used for cooling in many industrial processes and in the food industry As gaseous nitrogen it is used to form an inert blanket over substances that would otherwise be oxidised by the air. Nitrogen is used for cooling various mechanical equipment that needs to be kept extremely cold and for snap-freezing foods such as chicken, hamburger patties and fruit to be eaten out of season. Inert blankets of nitrogen are used over reactive liquids in tankers, in varnish manufacture and also inside potato chip packets.

Oxygen

The majority of the oxygen produced by BOC Gases is used by the Glenbrook steel mill to oxidise unwanted impurities in the steel. The remainder is in the food industry, for medical oxygen for respiration and in oxy-acetylene torches. I-Chemicals-K-Industrial Gases-2

Argon

Argon is highly unreactive and so, like nitrogen, can be used as a protective blanket to prevent substances from oxidising. Argon is mainly used to protect very hot metal, as this is highly reactive. Most of it is used in welding to protect the molten metal, and a small amount is used in light bulbs to prevent the white-hot tungsten filament from oxidising. BOC Gases also distributes a variety of other gases including compressed air.