Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Carbon monoxide (CO) has a long history as a component of the initial attempts to produce a flammable gas for illumination in the nineteenth century before the successful demonstration of electric arc and incandescent lighting. At a “gas works,” coal was fired in a depleted oxygen environment, creating hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. This gas was compressed and distributed in many cities around the world, substituting for whale oil but still necessitating “lamplighters” to open individual valves, and light the burner (and close the valve in the morning).

This manufactured gas gradually found a more straightforward system of generation: through specially built coking ovens that transformed metallurgical grade coal to coke, for use as a source of carbon to convert iron to steel. The gaseous derivative from these ovens was a more enriched variant of the original gas with a higher concentration of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, some methane, and less carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The oven procedures and equipment became relatively standardized, and this gas became commonly known as Manufactured Gas Type B.

The demand for coke expanded rapidly, as the US and Europe seemed to have an unlimited appetite for steel. Coking operations provided a regular uninterruptible source of this gas. Like many of the other technical innovations during this period, the gas was simply consumed as an energy and heat source in steel finishing, but its availability over time spawned additional markets in metal processing and early chemical synthesis once its properties were more fully digested.

In today’s world, while coke is still a critical part of steel making, most of the commercially produced carbon monoxide is created in world-class plants located near chemical manufacturers who need an ongoing supply of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. In these plants, coal has been supplanted by steam reforming of natural gas, again in a somewhat depleted atmosphere so that the natural gas carbons are only partially oxidized to carbon monoxide, rather than fully oxidized to carbon dioxide.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, toxic, flammable gas that has many applications. It is used in organic synthesis to produce everything from ethylene to dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol. CO can be used in the textile industry to test flame resistance. Grade 4, 99.99% pure CO can be found in electronic and semiconductor applications. High purity CO has prevalent application in lung diffusion mixtures, mixed with high purity oxygen, helium and nitrogen to create a breathing atmosphere to measure pulmonary functions by measuring exhaled CO concentrations over a series of breathing cycles. And the largest PurityPlus requirement utilizes Grade 4 Carbon Monoxide in carefully prepared cylinders to blend highly accurate and stable trace level mixtures for environmental, health and safety monitoring equipment calibration.

While Carbon Monoxide, you want to speak with someone who understand how you plan to use it and what to keep in mind. Call PurityPlus^® Specialty Gases by Weldstar today at 708-627-1007 or contact us online for your needs.