我们每天都会走进超市，挑选食材和日用品。蔬菜的新鲜、食品的口感、饮料的气泡、包装的完整，这些看起来再正常不过。但很少有人会去想：这些“理所当然”的背后，其实离不开一类几乎看不见的存在——气体。它们不会出现在货架上，但从生产到保存的每一个环节，它们都在默默参与，影响着产品的品质。这一次，我们换一个视角，走进超市，去寻找那些被忽略却无处不在的气体踪迹。

购物车里的第一条线索

故事从你推起购物车的那一刻开始。入口处整齐摆放的购物车，看起来再普通不过。但它们早已经历了一段“气体参与”的工业过程。从钢铁熔炼开始，氧气被引入高炉，提高燃烧效率；在精炼过程中，氩气让钢水更纯净；当金属在轧机上变成金属丝时，加热炉中的氮气可防止氧化。最后但同样重要的是，当机器人将金属丝焊接到一起制成购物车时，必须用到焊接保护混合气。

蔬菜区里的“隐形保鲜术”

推着购物车往前，来到蔬菜区。那些看起来新鲜饱满的番茄，其实从种植阶段开始，就已经离不开气体的帮助。在温室里，通过提高空气中的二氧化碳浓度，可以促进番茄生长，让作物长得更快、产量更高。

当蔬菜进入超市，被切配、装袋之后，气体仍然在发挥作用。袋装沙拉中通常会充入氮气、氧气和二氧化碳的混合气体，这种“气调包装”可以防止绿色蔬菜边缘变成褐色，并确保长时间保持松脆口感。。

速溶咖啡里的低温秘密

再往前，是速溶食品区。一杯速溶咖啡要好喝，离不开冷冻干燥这个关键过程。咖啡在约200°C的高温高压条件下进行萃取，并通过空气或二氧化碳促进香气释放。随后，咖啡提取液被迅速降温至极低温度。液氮被引入冷却系统，不仅实现快速冻结，还用于冷却冷凝器，使真空干燥过程中从析出的水分以冰的形式被分离和去除。在气体的作用下，温度可降低至约-100°C，大幅缩短干燥时间，同时最大程度保留咖啡中的芳香物质与原始风味。

而在脱除咖啡因时，会采用高压萃取技术，只去除“刺激成分”，同时尽量保留咖啡本身的风味。

肉类加工中的“降温高手”

继续往前，是肉类加工区。在这里，气体的作用更加直接。在绞肉或肉制品加工过程中，温度控制非常关键。一旦温度升高，不仅影响口感，还会缩短保质期。因此，液氮或二氧化碳会被引入搅拌设备作为冷却介质，比如梅塞尔的Variomix工艺。低温气体可以迅速带走混合过程中产生的热量，让整个过程始终保持在有利于延长保质期的低温状态。

这一原理同样适用于烘焙中的和面设备冷却。此外，Variomix工艺也广泛应用于粉状食品生产，如即食汤料和各类速食产品，在包覆过程中保持颗粒均匀、松散、不结块。

冷冻食品背后的“速度竞争”

再往前，是冷冻区。在这里，决定品质的关键，不只是“冷”，而是“快”。冰台上的鱼，其实都已经经历完整的冷链过程。如今，冷冻水产品的品质，已经可以接近刚刚捕捞的新鲜鱼。这一切，依赖的是低温气体支撑的冷冻技术。在深度冷冻过程中，降温速度至关重要。冷却太慢，食品内部会形成较大的冰晶，破坏细胞结构，从而导致营养和风味流失。

在低温隧道冷冻设备中，梅塞尔的Cryogen-Rapid冷冻技术利用液氮或二氧化碳，在极短时间内完成快速冷冻，从而锁住食材本身的品质。这不仅让冷冻食品更接近“新鲜”，也让全年稳定供应成为可能。

饮料与香气

冰台上的鱼，往往会配上一杯白葡萄酒。葡萄酒在发酵过程中，温度通过干冰被精确降低，从而锁住葡萄本身的果香；在陈酿阶段，酒液上方会覆盖一层惰性气体，把空气隔绝在外，防止氧化，让风味得以完整保留。

不仅是葡萄酒。超市里几乎所有饮料，在制备或灌装过程中，都会使用气体。从让汽水产生气泡的二氧化碳，到果汁瓶中注入的一点氮气，不仅可以防止氧化，还能在瓶内形成适当压力，帮助薄壁PET瓶保持稳定结构。

在洗涤剂和化妆品的生产中，气体同样参与多个关键环节。更进一步，在特定压力和温度条件下，二氧化碳会进入“超临界状态”——介于液体和气体之间。在这种状态下，它具有很强的溶解能力，可以温和、高效地从植物中提取精油，同时最大程度保留天然香气。

128 年来，梅塞尔作为全球最大的私营工业、医用、电子及特种气体专家，始终坚守安全、以客户与员工为核心、承担社会责任、推动可持续发展，并以信任与尊重为基石。凭借 “气体创彩生活“的品牌理念以及众多的专利气体应用，梅塞尔正在为环境与气候保护、脱碳进程及创新发展提供强劲动力。

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Gases are rarely found among everyday goods, but what we buy in the supermarket often has something to do with them. Many products would not even exist in their usual form without them.

The only gas you can buy in a normal supermarket is butane for filling lighters. So, when you enter such a temple of consumerism you probably don't think of gases, but of things like tomatoes, liverwurst and dish soap. Without gases, however, many goods on the shelves would not look, smell and taste the way they do, and some would not be there at all. We went to the supermarket in search of traces of the volatile substances that are omnipresent in everyday life - and found many of them!

Shielding gases for trolley wire

The first trace can be found in front of the entrance where you grab your shopping cart. Several gases have done their work before the iron has been melted, drawn into steel wire, shaped and welded together into a practical shopping aid.

Oxygen was probably blown into the blast furnace to optimize heat generation, argon was used to "refresh" the molten steel and improve the quality of the steel. While this is formed into wire in the rolling mill, nitrogen prevents oxidation in the heating furnace. Last but not least, shielding gas mixtures are indispensable when robots weld the wires together to form shopping carts.

CO₂ fertilization and modified atmosphere packaging

Shopping starts at the fruit and vegetable stall. The tomatoes from the greenhouse may have been "fertilized" with carbon dioxide. The greenhouse air is enriched with the gas, which promotes growth and enables higher yields. The bag of pre-cut lettuce most likely contains a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide, which prevents brown edges and ensures that the greens stay crisp for longer.

Freeze-drying and high-pressure extraction

Pre-cut salad saves time, as does quickly brewed instant coffee. If it is to taste good, it should be freeze-dried: coffee extract boiled at 200 degrees Celsius and high pressure is foamed with air or CO₂ and then deep-frozen. Liquid nitrogen brings the cold into the cooling circuit. It also cools the ice condenser, which removes the water that has solidified into ice from the extract in the vacuum dryer. The gas can be used to lower the temperature to minus 100 degrees Celsius. This means that the drying process takes very little time and the aromatic substances are preserved.

When decaffeinating coffee, high-pressure extraction is used to remove only the stimulant and also preserve the aromas. Messer develops and optimizes the systems to suit the respective application.

Gas cooling in the mixer

The right mix: the range on offer at the sausage counter would look and taste very different without gases. When mixing minced meat, liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide is introduced into the mixer as a cooling medium, for example with the Variomix process from Messer. The cryogenic gas extracts the heat generated during mixing. The low temperatures that are important for shelf life are maintained throughout the mixing process.

The same principle is also used to cool kneading machines in the production of baked goods. The Variomix process is also used in the production of powdered foods such as packet soups or instant products. When encapsulating powders, it ensures that the ingredients remain granular and free-flowing.

Fast freezing without loss of quality

What lies on the ice at the fish counter has already been through the cold chain. In addition to fresh fish, you can choose from a wide selection of frozen options that are almost as good as freshly caught fish. This is made possible by a modern freezing process using cryogenic gases.

When it comes to deep freezing, the speed of cooling is important. If it is too slow, large ice crystals form in the frozen food, which damage the cells and lead to the loss of vitamins, nutrients and flavor. In cryogenic tunnel freezers, food is, therefore, frozen with liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide within a very short time. This process not only preserves quality but also helps to protect fish stocks. Closed seasons can be observed, and consumers can still enjoy their favorite fish all year round.

Flavors and fragrances

The fish is served with white wine whose fermentation temperature has been lowered with dry ice. This preserves the fruity aromas of the grape. As the fine wines mature an inert gas forces the air out of the tank and prevents oxidation. However, there is hardly a product on the other drinks shelves that has not had at least one gas involved in its preparation or bottling.

This starts with the carbon dioxide that makes lemonade fizzy and continues with the drop of nitrogen in the headspace of a fruit juice bottle. In addition to protecting against oxidation, the gas provides the pressure that stabilizes the thin-walled PET container. In the case of detergents and cosmetics gases were involved in many steps in the creation of most products.

Among other things, they help to extract natural fragrances intact from the raw materials. At a certain ratio of pressure and temperature carbon dioxide enters the supercritical state - an intermediate state between liquid and gaseous. This gives it enormous solubility and allows it to extract essential oils, for example, from plants both gently and efficiently. It is only during the final extraction at the supermarket - the wallet from your pocket - that you can actually manage without any gases at all.

For more than 128 years, Messer, the today’s world's largest privately owned company for industrial gases, medical gases, specialty gases, and gases for electronics, committed to its guiding principles of safety, focus on customers and employees, responsibility for our society, sustainability, trust, and respect. Messer's Gases for Life and patented gas applications are essential for environmental protection, climate protection, decarbonization, and innovation.

,袋装沙拉中通常充入氮气、氧气和二氧化碳的混合气体（气调包装），以防止变色，并延长新鲜与口感。,The bag of pre-cut lettuce most likely contains a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide, which prevents brown edges and ensures that the greens stay crisp for longer.,在超市里，寻找那些看不见的气体,TRACE OF GAS IN THE SUPERMARTKET,金属加工,Metalworking,食品与饮料,Food & Beverage,气体创彩生活

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