Nitrogen gas: Feedstocks
Free air, costly electricity
What this tab covers What it is made from and what it feeds: the raw materials and energy per tonne with their share of cost (linked to the commodity table), who is low-cost and why, and the chemicals made from it.Air is free; electricity is the input that matters. For a cryogenic co-product plant, nitrogen shares the power bill with oxygen and argon, so allocation rules decide its cost. On-site PSA nitrogen competes with delivered liquid wherever power is cheap and volumes are steady.
Inputs per tonne
| Input | Quantity per tonne | Role | Share of cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air | about 1.3 t of air per t N2 (basis: 75.5% N2 by mass) | nitrogen source | zero | air composition |
| Electricity | about 100-400 kWh per t gaseous N2 by route (indicative) | compression and separation | about 50-70% of cash cost (indicative) | indicative |
Who is low-cost, and why
Large on-site cryogenic plants with cheap power have the lowest cost. In India, contract nitrogen was 5.69 US cents per Nm3 against cash costs of 3.6-3.9 cents (Intratec, June 2023). Delivered liquid and cylinders cost several times more because of liquefaction and logistics.
What it is made into
| Product | Note |
|---|---|
| NH3 Ammonia | 0.823 t N2 per t NH3 |
| ESG Electronic specialty gases | ultra-high purity nitrogen supports fab gases |
| HNO3 Nitric acid | via ammonia |