Industrial cooling units basically work like ordinary refrigerators: a coolant is alternately compressed and expanded, thereby extracting heat from it until the right temperature has been reached. This coolant is then conveyed to a chemical synthesis reactor, for example, from where it makes its way back to the compressor in a closed circuit, to be compressed again – and so on. However, this takes time, and the motorized compressor requires regular maintenance. By contrast, liquid nitrogen provides a cold source that is available immediately, without the need for high-maintenance electromechanical equipment. Where a refrigerating machine takes hours to achieve the necessary cooling effect, nitrogen can often perform the same task in just a few minutes with the CryoControl process.

First cooling, then inerting The CryoControl process involves the circulation of a liquid coolant that changes its temperature but not its state. The circulating liquid is cooled with liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees Celsius without it freezing. The nitrogen evaporates during this process and is then available for other applications such as inerting tanks filled with sensitive or explosive substances. Incidentally, the cooling circuit can also be used for heating – some processes require an alternation of heating and cooling. In heating mode, the nitrogen supply is simply interrupted, and a heating element switched on. CryoControl is often used for precise and efficient temperature control in chemical reactors. Some synthesis steps, particularly where fine and special chemicals are concerned, require temperatures below minus 100 degrees Celsius. But the system is extremely flexible and can also be used for tasks in other areas and in combination with different cooling media.