4 Advice to Choose a Cryogenic Liquid Cylinders

09 Jun.,2025

 

A Buyer's Guide to Choosing the Right Cryogenic Tank - CryoSafe

How to Choose the Right Cryo Tank?

Choosing the right cryogenic tank for your needs is crucial. Whether you’re working in a medical lab, a research center, or an industrial setting, this decision will impact your daily work. The correct tank not only ensures the safety of your samples but also determines how smoothly your workflow runs. This guide is designed to help you understand the key factors involved in selecting the best cryogenic tank for you.

Read more

Key Things to Consider When Choosing a Cryogenic Tank

  1. Know Your Application

Start your buying process with a clear understanding of your application. Know your business, what specifically you’ll be using the tank for, and an estimate of the volume of samples you’ll be storing. Here are some general guidelines based on your industry:

Medical Labs: If you’re in the medical field you’ll need a tank with high reliability and safety for storing sensitive materials like stem cells, biological tissues, and blood.

Research Labs: For research and scientific applications, look for a tank with flexibility and easy access. This will improve your workflow for frequent sample retrieval and analysis.

Industrial Use: In industrial settings, you’ll likely need a large-capacity tank for bulk storage. Consider stationary, highly-durable models.

At CryoSafe, we understand these specific needs and offer a range of products tailored to each industry. For instance, our Cryosafe Sentry Plus auto fill units are renowned for their reliability in medical labs, ensuring the utmost safety for your critical samples.

  1. Find Your Ideal Storage Capacity

The storage capacity you need will greatly determine what tank you choose. For small labs, portable tanks are best for limited space and lower volumes. For large operations, go for high-capacity, stationary tanks that can handle bigger needs.

CryoSafe’s CryoGuard units are a perfect choice for large industrial applications, providing robust and scalable storage solutions.

  1. Mobility and Portability

Will you need to transport your cryogenic materials, or will they be kept in a stationary location? If transportation is needed, a portable tank is the obvious choice. For everything else, choose a stationary tank. That’s not to say that some smaller cryo tanks can’t be moved, but in general, stationary tanks are designed to be kept in one laboratory, and not transported between labs. Large cryogenic tanks are almost always immovable, and are designed for permanent storage setups.

CryoSafe’s Model T-Cryo offers the perfect balance between mobility and storage capacity, ideal for both lab and industrial use.

  1. Choose Your Design and Features

Features are the nuts and bolts that customize your unit to your unique needs. Consider the materials, monitoring capabilities, alarms, and ease of access as you’re looking at units to buy. Here’s some features to consider to get you started:

Materials: Stainless steel or aluminum are best for durability and contamination prevention.

Insulation: High-quality vacuum insulation minimizes heat transfer, protecting your contents.

Access: User-friendly access points are crucial for frequent use.

Temperature Stability: Ensure the tank can consistently maintain temperatures around 196°C (-320°F) for liquid nitrogen storage.

Monitoring: Look for tanks with temperature sensors and liquid nitrogen level monitors for constant tracking.

Safety Features: Look for safety features such as pressure relief valves that manage pressure buildup in the tank. Alarms are also essential. Audible and visual alarms signal temperature changes or low nitrogen levels provide you with needed safety and control.

  1. Make Sure Your Tank Meets Regulatory Compliance

Ensure any prospective tank meets all relevant standards and regulations. For medical and research applications, look for FDA compliance to guarantee performance and safety.

  1. Additional Considerations

As you come down to your final decision, there are several other factors to consider when purchasing a cryogenic tank. Obviously budget comes into play as well as vendor support. You’ll also want to consider how much room there will be for growth with the unit you choose. Let’s look at these individually:

Budget: Balance the initial cost with operational efficiency and maintenance needs. A high-quality tank can save you money in the long run by reducing nitrogen use and preventing sample loss. Plus, better features will make your daily tasks easier.

Vendor Support: Choose a vendor with excellent customer service, warranty options, and quality maintenance support.

Future Needs: Think about future growth or changes in storage requirements. Make sure the tank you pick can handle expanding needs or different sample types. A slightly higher investment up front will be worth it if you can keep a tank without replacing it for many years to come.

Link to Chengde Energy Technology

At CryoSafe, we pride ourselves on offering exceptional support and products designed for longevity and adaptability, ensuring your investment stands the test of time.

Conclusion

Choosing the right cryogenic tank comes down to understanding your specific needs inside and out. By considering your application, storage capacity, temperature stability, design features, mobility, safety, and regulatory compliance, you can make a well-informed decision that supports your work best. At Cryosafe we offer a wide range of cryogenic tanks tailored to meet the diverse needs of different industries. Contact us today to find the best cryogenic solution for your laboratory or business.

For nearly 20 years CryoSafe has supplied cryogenic equipment specifically designed to meet the stringent requirements of the pharmaceutical, medical and scientific fields. CryoSafe has grown to become one of the nation’s leading cryogenic companies, renowned for our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.

Cryogenic tanks: 4 criteria you should consider when picking them

Cryogenic tanks are an essential part for many industries, as they are a key element to store certain gases crucial for diverse processes. In light of such importance, we take a look at the different possibilities in the current cryogenic tanks market and provide 4 key questions to answer before acquiring a cryogenic container.

Use and utility of cryogenic tanks

Cryogenic tanks are a type of industrial storage tank ideal for situations where large quantities of gas need to be stored in liquid form.

They are the right solution to store substances such as Liquid Oxygen, Liquid Nitrogen, Argon, C02, LNG, LPG, Liquid Hydrogen, etc, all of which must be stored at very low temperatures in order to maintain their properties. Thus, it’s common to hear of a cryogenic oxygen tank, a LNG cryogenic tank, and so forth.

As more and more industries require the gases mentioned above, demand for cryogenic tanks keeps growing and is projected to grow at a higher rate than 5% CAGR between and . 

The main characteristics of an adequate cryogenic storage tank include:

  • They’re versatile, provide an optimal internal distribution and thus optimize resources. They allow for the installation of a centralised network for the optimal distribution of the different cryogenic gases used, so that there is no gas return to the plant
  • Improved loading process through the use of vaporisers, so that the liquid gas passes directly from the production plant to the user, avoiding sudden movements and improving stability and safety.
  • Higher purity than other storage systems, as the gas remains isolated in a hermetically sealed tank so that the possibility of contamination with any external agents is minimized.
  • Because they’re hermetically sealed, they remain stable and thus are safer than other storage alternatives. Also, as the cylinder transfer within the facilities is avoided, unnecessary risks aren’t taken.

Related content: Cryogenic dewar: tips for a safe, optimized storage

Types of cryogenic tanks

The structure for cryogenic tanks is made of three parts:

  • An inner vessel made of stainless steel and designed to withstand very low temperatures.
  • An outer vessel made of carbon steel. In order to guarantee cryogenic temperatures and safety, these two vessels are insulated from each other by a combination of materials that provide such insulation.
  • In addition to these two containers, a cryogenic storage tank is also equipped with a pressure regulation system, which is specifically designed to ensure that the cryogenic tank always operates at a constant pressure. At the same time, this pressure is set with the user’s needs in mind.

While cryogenic tanks have this basic structure in common, it’s possible to distinguish between two types of cryogenic container

  • Flat-bottom cryogenic tanks, such as the flat-bottomed tanks Cryospain has recently installed in the USA.
  • Large vacuum-insulated cryogenic pressure vessels, such as the new vacuum insulated vessels Cryospain has generated in collaboration with IDESA, which allow for large-scale cryogenic storage.

How to choose a cryogenic container?

Depending on the substance to be stored

When choosing cryogenic tanks, companies must consider what substances they need to store, and communicate it to the tanks manufacturer. 

Different substances will require a different tank shape and design, so that it perfectly adapts to the cryogenic liquid it will need to store. 

Some common substances that require a cryogenic container include: 

  • LIN (liquid nitrogen) 
  • LOX (Liquid Oxygen) 
  • LAR (Liquid Argon) 
  • CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) 
  • LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)
  • LHe (Liquid Helium)
  • LH2 (Liquid Hydrogen)
  • LPG ( Liquefied Petroleum Gas) 
  • Liquid Ethylene

Depending on the size

Different companies will be in need of different tank sizes, depending on their substance demand and use, among other factors. At Cryospain we are specialized in tanks for large quantities >500 m3

Depending on the material

Stainless steel and carbon steel are the main two materials for building cryogenic tanks. At the same time, different insulating materials can be used: from cellular glass, to rockwool and expanded perlite. Thus, each project must be studied separately, in order to ensure the right materials are used. 

Other considerations

Other criteria to pick the right cryogenic tanks can include: 

  • The need to comply with national and/or international regulations.
  • The geographical location where the tanks will be installed. For instance, seismic criteria must be considered. The difficulty to access the are might also present a challenge, like it did when Cryospain built a flat-bottom cryogenic tank in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Keep reading: Everything you need to know when choosing cryogenic tanks for gas storage

At Cryospain we develop custom flat-bottom cryogenic tanks, as well as large vacuum-insulated cryogenic pressure vessels, all according to our clients’ needs as well as international and local regulations.

We are in charge of designing these cryogenic tanks from the first sketches  through to construction and commissioning, coordinating our design, engineering and production teams. 

In order to take into account our clients’ needs and to guarantee a smooth implementation, we provide a careful design process through computer-aided systems, which provide virtual simulations of the future cryogenic tanks.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Cryogenic Liquid Cylinders.