Noble gases: Krypton, Neon, Xenon [ Return towards Air gases ]
Krypton, Neon and Xenon are monatomic gases, represented respectively by the following symbols: Kr, Ne and Xe.
They are considered as “rare” gases because, along with Argon, they represent no more than 1% of air. The Earth’s atmosphere is made of 18 ppm of Neon, 1.1 ppm of Krypton and 0.9 ppm of Xenon.
Krypton, Neon and Xenon were discovered in 1898 by Sir William Ramsay and Morris William Travers.
More about the history of these gases
Krypton, Neon and Xenon are naturally present in the atmosphere but in very low concentrations. For example, 1 liter of Krypton is contained in more than 900,000 liters of air. To produce these gases, it is necessary to separate them from the other constituents of air: Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%) and Argon (0.9%), through cryogenic distillation. Once this first process is completed, the three gases are separated from one another through a second distillation process mostly performed in large air separation units.
More about the production of these gases
These three gases show similar properties: at normal temperature and pressure, they are colorless, odorless, and tasteless and all of them are inert, which means they don’t react with other elements. All of them are used for lighting.
They also have specific properties and therefore their own applications.
In the liquid state, Neon is a very good coolant whose thermal capacity is 40 times higher than that of Helium. Krypton is a heavy gas used as a propellant, notably in the space and aeronautics industries, and as filler for double glazing. Xenon is used as a satellite propellant and, in the health sector, as an anesthetic.
Discover the various applications of these gases
More about these gases: their physical-chemical properties
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