Nitrogen Services
Mobile vaporizers with nitrogen tank from ETS Degassing
With our fleet of mobile vaporizers with nitrogen tanks, we can work with components that contain flammable liquids and gases. With nitrogen, we can flush and inert such containers to create a safe working environment. ETS Degassing nitrogen services can for example be applied for the maintenance of pipelines, tanks, ships, vessels and large containers as well as for the degassing of spherical gas tanks, gas tankers and gas containers. All of this makes our mobile nitrogen vaporizer ideally suited for application in planned projects as well as in emergencies, accidents and during turnarounds and shutdowns.
Compared to more conventional products, liquified gases under pressure such as ammonia, hydrogen or butane are more complex to work with because they are highly flammable. There is therefore a high risk of explosion when handling these products.
As an inert gas, nitrogen doesn’t react with other substances. This creates a safe environment when handling highly flammable substances. By applying nitogen, we inert and flush containers and ensure that they can be emptied safely.
Once containers, pipelines or tanks have been emptied of liquified gases, maintenance, cleaning or repair works can start safely.
Combination of mobile nitrogen vaporizer with mobile combustion chamber
ETS Degassing nitrogen services are of course also available in combination with our mobile vapor combustion units. This means that components that contain liquid and highly flammable substances and gases can also be reliably degassed.
In the Port of Duisburg, for example, we have recently degassed an inland waterway vessel loaded with propylene. Since propylene is a flammable gas and is highly flammable with air, the inert gas nitrogen was used. The ship degassing was carried out to prepare the vessel for work in the dry dock.
Another project in which we applied both our mobile nitrogen vaporizer and a mobile vapor combustion unit was the degassing of a tank filled with crude oil in southern Germany. Adding nitrogen also helps to reduce the risk of explosion when handing crude oil.
Expanding emission reduction technologies
The products that are used in our customer’s daily work are changing rapidly. Especially with regard to the efforts to reduce harmful emissions in the industrial sector and to lower the carbon footprint, many alternative sustainable technologies and energy sources are currently being introduced. This is intended to contribute to climate protection and the achievement of climate goals. Recently, for example, LNG or green ammonia have become increasingly important as alternative, more sustainable energy sources. In the near future, this trend towards new, more environmentally-friendly processes and energy sources is expected to continue. It is therefore important to us to continuously develop our portfolio of technologies and to expand it to include further products. We have succeded in doing this with the introduction of the ETS Degassing nitrogen services.
In 2021, 2022 and 2023, we were recognized as one of the most innovative German medium-sized companies. Innovation and the optimization of our services are a big part of our daily work.
If our technologies are not suitable for newly introduced substances, we adapt them to expand our services to include the corresponding areas of application. Thus, we have added the mobile vaporizer with nitrogen tank to our fleet so that we can also work with complex, liquid and highly flammable substances such as propane, butane, ammonia, hydrogen, LNG or ethylene oxide. In combination with our technologies for mobile degassing and tank cleaning, ETS Degassing has a comprehensive portfolio for emission reduction for all substances in the explosion groups IIA, IIB and IIC.
Mobile nitrogen vaporizer in emergency situations
In November 2022, we were involved in the recovery of four derailed tank wagons loaded with propane. Two trains collided on the railway line between Hanover and Berlin near Gifhorn – propane leaked from the derailed tank wagons. Since propane is highly flammable, there was an increased risk of explosion that made the rescue work particularly difficult.
One of our mobile nitrogen vaporizers was used to empty the tank wagons before recovery. To empty the tanks, our on-site team inerted the tank wagons with nitrogen. As an inert gas, nitrogen doesn’t react with other substances and therefore takes no part in unwanted reactions. Oxidation, for example, would have caused the propane to ignite and would have led to an explosion. Nitrogen was added to flush the propane out of the tank wagons so that it could be safely burned. The cleanup work and removal of the tank wagons were able to begin afterwards.