It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic and chemically inert. Nitrogen is non-flammable and capable of suppressing combustion processes. In addition, as an inert gas it has an asphyxiating effect, as it displaces the oxygen required for breathing. Nitrogen has numerous applications in the industrial and research sectors because of its non-reactive nature with many materials.

In the chemical and petroleum industries, gaseous nitrogen applications include inerting reactors and storage tanks, purging vessels and pipelines of flammable or toxic gases and vapors, and the sparging and pressure transfer of liquids.

In metals industry, nitrogen is used in iron and steelworks applications for degassing and metal-stirring, purging, cooling, slag splashing, gas knives and as a carrier gas for injecting de-sulphurising compounds. It is also used for aluminium-extrusion inerting. For lasers cutting, nitrogen is used as an assist gas for laser cutting of stainless steel, aluminium and non-metallic materials.

Food Industry use Liquid nitrogen for freezes food , producing a higher-quality product. In addition, Nitrogen is used in brewing, soft drinks and wine-making industries to exclude air from the product and de-aerate water. The nitrogen keeps oxygen from damaging stored foods, preventing fats' and other nutrients' decomposition.

Medical industry will use nitrogen in Cryosurgery, where Nitrogen is used to safely remove skin lesions such as warts in both humans and animals by the use of spray tips or probes attached to a cryogenic applicator. Furthermore, Liquid Nitrogen can be used to store medical sample such as blood, plasma & semen.

Heat treatment, pure nitrogen is used to protect some of the most reactive metals during heat treatment. These metals readily form a protective oxide surface layer from the small amount of oxygen in the nitrogen and need no further protection.

Another interesting nitrogen application is shrink-fitting that Liquid nitrogen is used to shrink components so they are small enough to be inserted into another component.