Editing Xenon (section)

=== Commercial ===
Xenon is obtained commercially as a by-product of the [[air separation|separation of air]] into [[oxygen]] and [[nitrogen]].<ref>{{cite journal
| url     = https://www.nevis.columbia.edu/~ju/Paper/Paper-detector/science16.pdf
| title   = Present and future production of xenon and krypton in the former USSR region and some physical properties of these gases
| last1   = Lebedev
| first1  = P. K.
| last2   = Pryanichnikov
| first2  = V. I.
| journal = Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A
| volume  = 327
| year    = 1993
| issue   = 1
| pages   = 222–226
| doi     = 10.1016/0168-9002(93)91447-U
| bibcode = 1993NIMPA.327..222L
}}</ref> After this separation, generally performed by [[fractional distillation]] in a double-column plant, the [[liquid oxygen]] produced will contain small quantities of [[krypton]] and xenon. By additional fractional distillation, the liquid oxygen may be enriched to contain 0.1–0.2% of a krypton/xenon mixture, which is extracted either by [[adsorption]] onto [[silica gel]] or by distillation. Finally, the krypton/xenon mixture may be separated into krypton and xenon by further distillation.<ref>{{cite book
| first     = Frank G.
| last      = Kerry
| date      = 2007
| title     = Industrial Gas Handbook: Gas Separation and Purification
| pages     = 101–103
| publisher = CRC Press
| isbn      = 978-0-8493-9005-0
| url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=cXNmyTTGbRIC&pg=PA101
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url          = http://www.c-f-c.com/specgas_products/xenon.htm
| title        = Xenon – Xe
| access-date  = September 7, 2007
| date         = August 10, 1998
| publisher    = CFC StarTec LLC
| archive-date = June 12, 2020
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20200612100905/http://www.c-f-c.com/specgas_products/xenon.htm
| url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

Worldwide production of xenon in 1998 was estimated at {{convert|5,000–7,000|m3}}.<ref name="ullmann">{{cite book
| last1     = Häussinger
| first1    = Peter
| author2   = Glatthaar, Reinhard
| author3   = Rhode, Wilhelm
| author4   = Kick, Helmut
| author5   = Benkmann, Christian
| author6   = Weber, Josef
| author7   = Wunschel, Hans-Jörg
| author8   = Stenke, Viktor
| author9   = Leicht, Edith
 |author10= Stenger, Hermann
| chapter   = Noble Gases
| title     = Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
| publisher = Wiley
| year      = 2001
| edition   = 6th
| doi       = 10.1002/14356007.a17_485
| isbn      = 3-527-20165-3
}}</ref> At a density of {{Convert|5.894|g/L}} this is equivalent to roughly {{Convert|30 to 40|t}}. Because of its scarcity, xenon is much more expensive than the lighter noble gases—approximate prices for the purchase of small quantities in Europe in 1999 were 10&nbsp;[[Euro|€]]/L (=~€1.7/g) for xenon, 1&nbsp;€/L (=~€0.27/g) for krypton, and 0.20&nbsp;€/L (=~€0.22/g) for neon,<ref name="ullmann" /> while the much more plentiful argon, which makes up over 1% by volume of earth's atmosphere, costs less than a cent per liter.