Aeronautics:
Argon is used during welding and heat treatment operations as well as a protective atmosphere.
Automotive:
Argon is used pure or in mixtures for arc, plasma and laser welding. Argon protects welds against air as well as reduces fume emissions for most arc welding processes. Argon is used to inflate car airbags.
Beverage
Argon is used to inert wine to prevent oxidation during winemaking.
Electronic components:
Argon is used in plasma etching processes. Argon is used in PVD processes (Physical Vapor Deposition). It is also used for Silicon ingot crystal pulling.
Food:
Argon allows to extend food shelf life with modified atmosphere.
Glass
Argon avoids corrosion of the tungsten filament in light bulb and consequently blackening of the bulb by atmosphere inerting. Argon is used to increase thermal isolation performance of double glazing windows.
Hospital care
Liquid argon is used in surgery
Laboratories & Research Centres
Argon is used for analysis in research laboratories and quality control for industry and healthcare: plasma gas for plasma emission spectrometry, blanket gas in graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, carrier gas in gas chromatography for various detectors. In mixture with methane, argon is used in Geiger counter and in X-ray fluorescence detector as quenching gas.
Metal fabrication
Argon is used to protect liquid metal from reactions with compounds present in ambient air, such as oxygen. It is also used for the same reasons in many welding processes.
Metal
​Argon is used for stirring and inerting purposes in steelmaking and during the Argon Oxygen Decarburisation (AOD) operation for stainless steel.