Helium, which plays an irreplaceable role in so many fields, is facing a shortage. Fullcryo, the world’s leading supplier of gases, offers high purity helium and cryogenic solutions.
Over the past few decades, the demand for liquid helium for many cutting-edge research projects and emerging technologies has shown significant growth as science and technology continue to advance. In the medical field, the popularization and modernization of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) systems require large quantities of liquid helium to maintain the cryogenic environment of their superconducting magnets for accurate imaging; in the scientific field, the continuous development of particle gas pedals has led to an increasing demand for helium-cooled superconducting devices. All of this has led to a sharp rise in the demand for helium.
Refer reading：Application of Cryogenic Engineering in Medical Industry
Although helium is one of the most abundant elements in the universe, it is an extremely scarce resource on Earth. This is because helium is a non-renewable resource that depends on the natural radioactive decay of heavy radioactive elements such as uranium for its formation. In addition, helium has an extremely low density, and although it exists in air (about one helium particle for every 191,000 air particles), it is so light that it breaks free from the Earth’s gravity and escapes into outer space. At the same time, the extremely high cost of extracting helium from air makes it difficult to realize large-scale applications in this way.
Helium production relies heavily on extraction from natural gas, but there is great uncertainty about the discovery of new helium sources. While the occasional discovery of new helium reserves can provide some relief to supply, in the long term existing supplies will struggle to meet the growing demand and shortages are a growing problem.
MRI systems – In the medical industry, MRI systems are an important tool for diagnosing many diseases. Their superconducting magnets need to operate at extremely low temperatures, and liquid helium, with its ability to reach ultra-low temperatures of -452.2 degrees Fahrenheit, is the ideal coolant to achieve this. Without helium, MRI systems would not function properly and the diagnosis of many diseases would be severely compromised. Particle Accelerators – Particle gas pedals in the research field, which can be miles long and generate a great deal of heat during operation, require large quantities of helium to cool their superconducting equipment and to ensure that the gas pedals operate stably, thus advancing the state of the art in scientific research. New Generation Nuclear Reactors – A new generation of nuclear reactors is being designed. Due to the extremely high temperatures generated during operation, helium, with its excellent cooling properties, is likely to become the coolant for future nuclear reactors, providing a guarantee of safe and efficient utilization of nuclear energy.
Aerospace – NASA’s Space Shuttle uses oxygen and liquid hydrogen as fuels, and helium is used to clean out the liquid hydrogen and oxygen left in the fuel tanks during fueling and use. The inert nature of helium prevents it from reacting or burning with residual oxygen, ensuring clean and safe fuel tanks.
Refer reading：Liquid Helium’s Aerospace Applications: SpaceX Answers
Automotive Safety – In automobile manufacturing, helium is used in airbags because of its fast diffusion rate. When an automobile is involved in a collision, helium enables the airbags to inflate and deploy quickly, providing timely and effective protection for the occupants.
Communication Networks-The high-speed development of the Internet and cable TV cannot be separated from fiber optic cables. In order to prevent air bubbles from entering the fiber optic cable and affecting the signal transmission, the manufacturing of fiber optic cables needs to be carried out in a pure helium environment to ensure stable and high-speed signal transmission.
Data Storage – In hard disk manufacturing, a new generation of hard disks replaces air with helium, a change that has dramatically advanced data storage technology by increasing hard disk storage capacity by 50% while reducing operating power consumption by 23%.
Medical treatment – Doctors often use helium-oxygen mixtures containing 79% helium and 21% oxygen to treat patients with respiratory diseases such as asthma and emphysema. Helium-oxygen mixtures reduce the resistance to airflow and relieve breathing difficulties. In addition, helium-oxygen mixtures are widely used in deep-sea diving to prevent divers from experiencing nitrogen narcosis.
Welding Process – Due to its inert nature, helium is often used as a shielding gas during the welding process to prevent oxidization of the weld area and to improve the quality of the weld, and is widely used in a variety of metal welding processes.
Party balloons and weather balloons are also important application scenarios for helium, and although the amount of helium used in individual balloons is relatively small, the sheer volume of use means that these two areas account for more than 10 percent of helium use. In the field of meteorology, weather balloons are released daily from 900 locations around the globe, and the atmospheric data they collect is vital to meteorologists in predicting the weather. However, helium shortages have forced the U.S. National Weather Service to reduce the number of weather balloon releases, which has had an impact on weather monitoring and forecasting.
Currently, most of the world’s helium resources are extracted from natural gas. However, the helium content of natural gas is generally low, not exceeding 0.2%. Fullcryo, as a leading global gas supplier, is concerned about the helium shortage and, together with China’s top research team, has independently developed the LNG-BOG cryogenic helium extraction plant, which utilizes cryogenic separation to purify and liquefy helium, and at the same time solves the problem of helium generation and storage.
The gas is purified by a medium-pressure, low-temperature adsorption and purification system to purify the impurities, and the final product is a 5N high-purity helium gas (99.999%) that meets the national standard. At the same time, the helium liquefier device with independent intellectual property rights can liquefy high-purity helium to produce liquid helium products, which can significantly reduce the cost of helium transportation.
Helium content in the non-condensable gas produced during the natural gas liquefaction process and in the BOG (evaporated gas) produced by the vaporization of LNG (liquefied natural gas) is up to about 3%. Extracting helium from BOG gas as a feedstock and developing process technologies for co-producing high-purity helium from LNG plants in the existing natural gas liquefaction industry is economically important, both to improve the economic efficiency of LNG plants and to increase the supply of helium. Helium recycling has become an important solution.
Liquid nitrogen is a closer alternative to helium in low temperature applications when temperatures are required to be no lower than -492.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of -320 degrees F. Although it cannot reach the ultra-low temperatures of liquid helium, liquid nitrogen can play a cooling role in some low temperature scenarios with relatively low temperature requirements.
Argon can replace helium as a shielding gas in the welding industry. And, depending on the metal material, argon can provide even better protection than helium in some cases, providing more options for the welding process.
For balloon filling, hydrogen can be used as an alternative gas, considering the helium shortage. Hydrogen has the same light density as helium and can make balloons float, but it is flammable and requires safety precautions during use.
Hydrogen-oxygen mixtures can be used as an alternative to helium-oxygen mixtures in deep-sea diving. They are also effective in preventing nitrogen narcosis in divers, and provide a safeguard for deep-sea diving operations.
In the future, the helium market will be influenced by a number of factors. From a supply and demand perspective, the demand for helium is expected to continue to grow as technology continues to advance, while the growth in helium supply faces many constraints, making it a huge challenge to achieve a balance between supply and demand.
On the cost side, cost analysis of helium production will be a key factor in determining whether production is profitable. In addition, changes in environmental regulations may also have an impact on helium production and supply, and companies will need to continually adapt to new regulatory requirements. In order to cope with the helium shortage, research on alternative sources of helium will need to be further strengthened in the future. At the same time, existing technologies, such as solar pumps, have the potential to play an important role in the exploration of helium production and alternative technologies, bringing new hope for solving the helium shortage problem.
Helium, as an indispensable industrial gas, plays a key role in many areas of modern society. However, the current shortage problem faced by helium cannot be ignored, and its production methods need to be continuously innovated and optimized. By exploring alternatives, improving production technology and enhancing recycling, we hope to alleviate the helium shortage crisis. At the same time, we call for more attention and investment, and look forward to technological breakthroughs in helium-related fields to ensure a sustainable supply of helium and promote the sustainable development of science and industry.
