UNSPSC 12142111: Liquid nitrogen

Liquid nitrogen is a cryogenic fluid, nitrogen in a liquid state at an extremely low temperature.

UNSPSC 12142111 Liquid nitrogen, a Commodity code, covers the procurement of cryogenic gases and related specialty gases for state and local operations, though recent solicitations show significant sourcing activity for liquid oxygen (LOX) rather than liquid nitrogen itself. State and local governments use these gases primarily in water treatment, municipal water production, and fish hatchery operations, where they support oxygenation, chemical oxidation, or disinfection processes. Issuing bodies span state departments (Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, Illinois), counties (Alameda County Water District in California, Pasco County Florida), and cities (Winter Park, Sanford, Wichita, Griffin, Detroit, and others). A subset of opportunities also cover compressed industrial gases in cylinder form—oxygen, argon, and acetylene—for controlled fish-rearing environments. Water utilities appear as the dominant buyer class, with recurring multi-year master agreements and indefinite-quantity contracts that establish firm pricing for on-call, as-needed delivery.

Recent activity concentrates in the South (Florida, Georgia) and West (California, Colorado, Oregon, Kansas), with secondary activity in the Midwest (Michigan, Illinois). Representative solicitations include Maine's RFQ 09A26061500000000000313 (due July 7, 2026) establishing a master agreement for bulk liquid oxygen delivery to eight fish hatcheries across Maine at approximately 45,000 gallons annually; Tualatin Valley Water District's ITB20260506-LOX (bid deadline May 20, 2026) for 400,000 pounds of LOX annually to a water treatment plant near Portland, Oregon, with NSF/ANSI Standard 60 compliance required; the City of Winter Park's IFB26-13 (closed April 2, 2026) for 1,500 tons of liquid oxygen annually at three water treatment plants with 48-hour delivery windows; and Alameda County Water District's IFB 25/26-29 (closed May 1, 2026) for LOX and carbon dioxide delivery to a water treatment plant in Fremont, California on a two-year base term with three one-year renewal options. All water-treatment-focused solicitations emphasize NSF 60 certification, purity specifications (typically 99% or higher oxygen content), and firm pricing structures with limited annual escalation, usually pegged to the Consumer Price Index. Contracts typically run one to three years with automatic or optional renewal periods extending three to five years total.