Xenon - Specialty Gases
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XENON
Products and applications of Xenon
Nested Applications
Xenon - Part 1
Xenon
Xenon gas (Xe, from Greek “xenos” – foreign, strange) consists of the heaviest of the stable rare gas atoms, as reflected by the Xenon gas molar mass of 131.3 g/mol. Correspondingly, the density of Xenon amounts to 5.513 kg/m and it forms a colorless, odorless and monoatomic gas. It is neither flammable nor toxic and almost chemically inert, although it is the only known rare gas to form compounds (e.g. XeF2). It is only found in Earth’s atmosphere in traces of 0.087 ppm (0.087 parts per million, roughly 1 out of ten million particles) and is therefore the scarcest of the rare gases.
Xenon - Part 2
Industrial Manufacturing of Xenon
As Xenon gas is only accessible from air in traces, large Air Separation Units allow to extract this sparse element from Earth’s atmosphere. During the separation of the air constituents via distillation, Xenon (in combination with Krypton) accumulates the liquid oxygen in the basement of the column due to the high Xenon density and rather large boiling point of Xenon, respectively. The Xenon-Krypton crude mixture is extracted as well as purified afterwards. A subsequent distillation in a dedicated column enables the withdrawal of Xenon from the bottom, considering the higher Xenon boiling point of -108,1 °C (165,0 K).
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High Purity Xenon
XENON 5.0
| Composition | |
| Xe | ≥ 99.999 % |
| Impurities | |
| Kr | ≤ 2 ppmv |
| N2 | ≤ 2.5 ppmv |
| O2 + Ar | ≤ 1 ppmv |
| CO + CO2 | ≤ 1 ppmv |
| H2O | ≤ 2 ppmv |
| CF4 | ≤ 1 ppmv |
| H2 | ≤ 0.5 ppmv |
| HC (as CH4) | ≤ 0.5 ppmv |
Xenon - Part 3
Applications of Xenon
Although the name coins their scarcity in terms of abundance, rare gases find various applications in different segments. Major applications in industrial and medical segment alike utilize a Xenon laser (more precisely: a Xenon Chloride Laser), operating with gas mixtures containing slight fractions of Xenon gas. High purity Xenon is used as etchant in specific etching processes in the electronics industry, as well as to fuel Xenon ion thruster for the propulsion of satellites in space. Here, the molar mass of Xenon gas is advantageous compared to other gaseous propellants. Moreover, Xenon is used for numerous scientific applications, most notably as scintillator for Dark Matter detection.
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Xenon lighting
Xenon is used in high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps to generate the characteristic bright, blueish light in car headlights.
Satellite propulsion
Xenon is an excellent propellant for maneuvering satellites in space via ion engines.
Electronic Specialty Gases
Xenon is indispensable for the electronics industry, either as mixture component for the operation of Excimer Lasers or in specific etching processes.
University & Research
Xenon finds numerous applications in Universities and Research facilities due to its unique properties.