Liquid nitrogen plays a decisive role in the ecological burial.
Submerging a corpse in liquid nitrogen is the prerequisite for enabling
the separation of its largest component water.
Nitrogen is a natural part of the air we breathe. A bit more than 78 percent of the air is nitrogen, the rest is oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, trace amounts of other gases and water. Nitrogen gas, N2, is produced by separation and is used for various processes within the fields of chemistry, food processing and metallurgy.
Nitrogen gas in liquid form has a temperature of minus 196 degrees Celsius and is used, for instance, in the metal and foodstuffs industries, and in the separation of various materials for recycling.
Air separation and distillation are applied in the production of liquid nitrogen. The air used is purified, devoid of water and particles. Then it is cooled and compressed in several steps until it takes the form of a liquid, and is then fed into a distillation column where the various gases boil off at different levels. The nitrogen gas is thus separated and fed into a heat exchanger to be turned, once again, into liquid form prior to storage in well-insulated tanks.
Cryogenics (super cooling technologies) have been in use for more than 100 years and, over the decades, have been made more energy efficient. And yet producing liquid nitrogen is still relatively costly. This, however, is offset by other factors when liquid nitrogen is used to replace environmentally hazardous alternatives, such as fossil fuels. Liquid nitrogen is colorless and odorless, and spills vaporize rapidly without causing any environmental problems. But because of its low temperature it can cause freeze-burn injuries if it comes into contact with the skin or eyes.
