They think it was b/c one of the liquid nitrogen tanks leaked. Here’s a quote:
"Liquid nitrogen is not deadly in and of itself, but when it’s turned into a gas will displace oxygen," Mr. Sheirer said. "So in a closed space, it takes out the oxygen in the air."
Buh?
Does he mean that a high-pressure stream of nitrogen gas pushed the oxygen (and other gases) out of the vicinity? This is the only way I could see this happening.
But that’s not really “taking the oxygen out of the air,” which I read as some sort of chemical reaction. More just crowding it out.
I think they misspoke. They’re using the word “air” to mean the general vincinity, not the gases. So what they meant was, “The nitrogen displaced all the air in the vicinity, and the person suffocated”.
You’re right – the oxygen is displaced by the liquid (or high-pressure gaseous) nitrogen as it expands into the room. The existing air/oxygen will eventually be “pushed” out of the room (through vents, cracks around doors, etc.) until there isn’t enough left for adequate breathing.
That’s what they meant. As you noticed, saying “nitrogen takes the oxygen out of the air” is misleading because it suggests that somehow the nitrogen removes it (vs. displacing it), which is incorrect.
By the way, the reason that this person died was likely that he didn’t know he was suffocating. I’ve heard that the feeling of suffocation is caused by your brain detecting too much carbon dioxide in your bloodstream, not by detecting a shortage of oxygen. If you’re breathing air that contains no oxygen and no CO2, then you will suffocate without knowing it. You’ll just slip off into unconsciousness.
Glad there’s agreement. As a writer, I hate that they leave that kind of incoherence in articles just because they know most people don’t understand what they’re talking about anyway and won’t call them on it.
CurtC is right. I’ve worked with an X-ray diffractometer which had an enclosure where the sample was placed with a nitrogen atmosphere. Other than being cold (being generated from liquid nitrogen) it feels like normal air. I held my breath while working in it; that way I would know when I actually needed to breathe. (usually I’d be in there less than a minute anyway.)
A similar problem can happen with inhaling Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas.) The gas used in a dentist’s office has oxygen added, but the gas used by recreational users often doesn’t. There have been a few deaths related to this, I believe.
I seem to recall that the inhabitants of BioSphere 2 suffered neuromuscular damage from prolonged exposure to a nitrogen-rich environment. In one interview one person who was aware of the potential for harm said the effect was very gradual (at low levels) and he was never aware of the problem until it was serious. - MC
Just to add one more nail to the coffin of this dead horse, the main reason you don’t notice nitrogen in the air is that air is ~80% nitrogen to begin with.
And you’re not likely to see nitrogen react with oxygen or anything else, because N[sub]2[/sub] is a very, very stable substance. In fact, a lot of explosives use nitrogen compounds and release N[sub]2[/sub] as a byproduct. The “N” in TNT stands for nitro, for instance. Forming N[sub]2[/sub] releases a lot of energy because it’s so stable, and releasing energy is what explosives are all about.
I remember reading about an incident at the Kennedy Space Center where two men died. There was a tank of some kind that was filled with nitrogen to prevent corrosion. One man went inside the tank for some reason, passed out, and died of asphyxiation. Later, another man went after him to see what was wrong and he also died. I’ll try to find out more.