Buy: Co2
The medical field also relies on high-purity CO2. It is purchased by hospitals for insufflation—the act of bloating the body cavity with gas during laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgeries to give doctors room to operate. It is also mixed with oxygen to stimulate deep breathing in patients or used in cryotherapy to destroy abnormal tissue.
To understand why entities buy CO2, one must first examine the diverse and critical applications of the gas across various sectors. The largest commercial consumer of carbon dioxide is the food and beverage industry. When consumers drink a carbonated beverage, they are consuming CO2 that was purchased by the manufacturer to provide that signature fizz. Beyond carbonation, liquid and solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) are heavily utilized for chilling and freezing food products during processing and transit. Because CO2 can achieve extremely low temperatures and sublimates directly from a solid to a gas without leaving liquid residue, it is the gold standard for preserving the cold chain for meat, dairy, and frozen meals. Furthermore, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) uses CO2 to displace oxygen inside food packaging, significantly delaying spoilage and extending shelf life without the need for chemical preservatives. buy co2
Beyond fossil fuels, CO2 is purchased for chemical manufacturing. It serves as a raw material in the synthesis of urea (used in fertilizers), methanol, and various polyurethanes. In the field of water treatment, buying CO2 is often a safer and more precise method for neutralizing the pH of alkaline water than using harsh mineral acids like sulfuric or hydrochloric acid. In metal fabrication, carbon dioxide is purchased as a shielding gas in semi-automatic welding processes to protect the weld puddle from atmospheric contamination. The medical field also relies on high-purity CO2
Agriculture is also evolving. Commercial greenhouse operators purchase CO2 to pump into their indoor facilities. Because plants consume carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, elevating CO2 levels in a controlled greenhouse environment can boost crop yields by up to 30 percent, accelerating plant growth and optimizing water use. To understand why entities buy CO2, one must
Despite the fact that carbon dioxide is abundant in our atmosphere, the supply chain for purchasing industrial-grade CO2 is surprisingly fragile and complex. Unlike oxygen or nitrogen, which can be cost-effectively filtered and separated directly from ambient air using air separation units, capturing CO2 from the atmosphere on a commercial scale is still energetically and financially expensive. Consequently, the vast majority of carbon dioxide bought and sold today is captured as a byproduct of other industrial processes.
The primary sources of commercial CO2 are ammonia fertilizer plants, hydrogen production facilities, and ethanol refineries. In these facilities, CO2 is generated as a byproduct of chemical reactions. Industrial gas companies buy this raw gas, purify it to meet food or medical-grade standards, liquefy it under pressure, and distribute it to end-users.
In the industrial and energy sectors, the purchase of CO2 takes on an entirely different scale. For decades, the oil and gas industry has been a major buyer of carbon dioxide for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). In this process, CO2 is injected into depleting oil reservoirs to reduce the viscosity of the oil and increase underground pressure, allowing companies to extract crude oil that would otherwise be unreachable. This process alone accounts for a massive portion of the global bulk CO2 market.
