Liquid Nitrogen: Under Pressure

Liquid Nitrogen, or LN2, expands to something like 700 times (estimate) its capacity from a liquid to a gas. This means that if you put 1 liter of liquid nitrogen into a space, seal it, then the LN2 warms to a gas, it's going to expand to around 700 liters of nitrogen gas when it reaches 70 degrees F. Basically, without knowing it, someone may create a pressure bomb that can be VERY, VERY dangerous. For this reason we have pressure relief devices (PRDs) on all LN2 systems; when the pressure in the system exceeds the PRDs limit, the PRD vents the excess gas out of the system, thereby maintaining a specific pressure in the system. Without this, things would definitely explode. For instance, a small amount of LN2 inside a capped plastic soda bottle would definitely take your hand off if you were holding it.