As a non-renewable resource, helium has unique properties such as low boiling point, good thermal conductivity, good permeability, stable properties, and no solidification at absolute zero. Therefore, helium is widely used in aerospace, military industry, nuclear power, medical, submarines, cutting-edge scientific research, high-end manufacturing and other fields. It is an indispensable strategic resource for the development of national defense military industry and high-tech industry, and can be called the “rare earth” in the gas world.
Especially in recent years, with the rapid development of high-end manufacturing industries such as 5G, high-end chips, and aerospace, the application of helium has also become “high”. In 2020, optical fiber and semiconductor accounted for 56% of the application fields of helium in my country, low-temperature applications such as national defense military, nuclear magnetic resonance, low-temperature superconductivity, and large-scale scientific research accounted for 23%, detection gas accounted for 7%, and welding shielding gas and other applications accounted for 14%.
Liquid helium is a liquid transformed from helium at a very, very low temperature (about minus 269 degrees Celsius). Liquid helium has some special physical properties. For example, it is the liquid with the lowest known boiling point and has a good cooling capacity. What is more special is that when the temperature of liquid helium drops below minus 271 degrees Celsius, its properties will change suddenly and have many unusual characteristics, such as being able to flow upward along the container wall without viscosity.
Liquid helium has a wide range of applications in many fields. Due to its excellent cooling performance, liquid helium is often used as a cryogenic refrigerant, especially in situations where an extremely low temperature environment is required, such as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, superconducting magnets in particle accelerators, etc. In addition to being used for refrigeration, liquid helium has other uses. For example, in the military field, it can be used to make some special balloons and airships. In general, as a special substance, liquid helium plays an important role in many fields such as scientific research, industry and military.
Helium is an irreplaceable resource related to national security, economy, and livelihood. Due to its properties such as an extremely low boiling point, low density, and inertness, helium has become an important resource for the development of national defense and high technology. This includes fields such as aerospace, nuclear weapons, semiconductors, and large scientific devices. Due to the lack of helium resources in our country, there is excess demand, restricting the development of high-tech in China. Therefore, the development of domestic helium resources is of great significance for increasing domestic helium supply.
Electronic Specialty Gas Division Strives to Ensure Domestic Supply of Helium Resources
To ensure the supply of helium resources, FULLCRYO has created an independent helium industry chain and established the Electronic Specialty Gas Division. Relying on strong technical advantages, the Electronic Specialty Gas Division adheres to the concept of “Customer Creates Value”. Committed to the production and supply of high-purity rare gases (helium, neon, krypton, xenon) and electronic specialty gases, it aids in the rapid development of major industries such as China’s aerospace, semiconductors, and dark matter research.
To accelerate the improvement of the helium business, the Electronic Specialty Gas Division has set up a helium resource business center to focus on the development, supply, and industrial application of helium resources. In the past two years, the helium supply has been steadily improved. On one hand, FULLCRYO uses the existing LNG-BOG helium extraction technology as an entry point to increase the production capacity of domestic BOG helium extraction plants. On the other hand, FULLCRYO uses its core technology to open the international market and obtain helium, increasing Liquid helium imports. FULLCRYO’s helium resource business has independent production and foreign cooperation, providing strong support for ensuring a stable supply system.
FULLCRYO believes that the “customer comes first”, thus providing customers with high-quality products and efficient services. After years of intensive development in the gas field, the gas industry has continued to expand, service levels have continued to improve, and market share has continued to rise. The high-purity helium products supplied are widely used in aerospace, medical tools, electronics, semiconductors, optical fiber manufacturing, leak detection and low temperature climates, recognized both inside and outside the industry.
In recent years, FULLCRYO has actively launched domestic and foreign helium extraction cooperation projects, mainly located in Russia, the Middle East, North Africa, and other regions. It has also set up liquefaction points in Chengdu, Tianjin, etc. to fully meet the needs of customers in different regions. To quickly respond to customers, FULLCRYO has set up a helium packaging plant, increased the number of liquid tanks, tube bundles and cylinders, as planned, and continuously improved its helium transportation capacity. FULLCRYO currently has one helium sub-packaging plant of its own and two long-term sub-packaging plants and plans to build 8 domestic sub-packaging plants and 4 overseas soon. There are currently 11 liquid tanks, 10 to be delivered, 8 tube bundles, and 2,000 cylinders. It is expected that the number of liquid tanks will increase to 150, 100 tube bundles, and 10,000 cylinders in 2030. The overall supply of helium from FULLCRYO will reach 600ISO.
FULLCRYO Filling Station/Liquefaction Points and Future Plans
FULLCRYO LNG BOG Helium Extraction System Solution
Most of China’s helium resources are obtained from natural gas, and the content is generally very low, not exceeding 0.2%. Simply extracting helium requires a lot of process equipment, long technical routes, high costs, and lacks market competitiveness. At present, research has found that the helium content in the non-condensable gas (BOG) produced during the natural gas liquefaction process is as high as about 3%, which has strong financial potential. Therefore, FULLCRYO and the Institute of Physics and Chemistry Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were the first in China to propose using LNG-BOG to extract helium and develop LNG plant gas and helium liquid co-production technology, which can obtain (5N and above) high-purity helium.
The LNG-BOG low-temperature helium extraction device developed by FULLCRYO makes full use of low-temperature separation methods to purify and liquefy helium. The BOG helium extraction process includes a feed gas metering steady flow system, a dehydrogenation/dehydration system, a crude helium extraction system, a low-temperature purification system, and a helium filling system. The helium-containing raw material gas first undergoes pressure regulation and steady flow, and then is sent to the catalytic dehydrogenation/dehydration system for hydrogen removal. The gas obtained after dehydrogenation is sent to the crude helium extraction system to obtain crude helium with a purity of about 95%. The gas then passes through the medium-pressure low-temperature adsorption purification system to purify the impurities, meeting the national standard (5N high purity helium). At the same time, it is equipped with a helium liquefier device, which liquefies high-purity helium to produce liquid helium products, fully meeting the needs of domestic users and significantly reducing helium transportation costs.
After years of practice and exploration, FULLCRYO’s LNG/BOG helium extraction and liquid helium co-production technology has achieved multiple sets of industrialization. In 2020, the first domestic BOG helium extraction plant passed technical tests (maximum production capacity reaching 42.9L/h, a helium extraction rate of 98%). This became China’s first example of commercial helium resources using natural gas as raw material and extracting commercial helium resources through an existing LNG plant. In 2021, Inner Mongolia Wanrui’s largest natural gas helium extraction and liquid helium co-production project was successfully put into operation. It mainly provides core helium extraction devices and complete sets of liquefaction equipment for the 1.3 million cubic meter LNG plant. It has a production capacity of 75 standard cubic meters per national standard of high-purity helium, achieving a liquefaction capacity of 107L/h. In 2022, the first domestic industrial synthetic ammonia purge gas helium extraction project was successfully launched, achieving the separation of helium from the purge gas, while recovering a large amount of hydrogen for purification. In 2023, core equipment and services for the LNG BOG helium extraction project in the Greater Ordos Basin was provided. Recently, FULLCRYO’s fifth set of liquefied natural gas BOG helium extraction equipment was delivered, achieving an annual helium output of 166,500 m³.
Ningxia Yanchi LNG-BOG Helium Extraction Project
Inner Mongolia Wanrui Natural Gas BOG Helium Extraction Project
Liquid helium dewar is designed in an optimal way to minimize the losses of liquid helium during storage, transport and distribution. High efficient multi-layer vacuum-insulated technology, Vapor cooled multi-shield technology and cryogenic condensation/adsorption based vacuum acquisition technology are adopted to effectively reduce the evaporation rate of liquid helium.
● Liquid helium Dewar is made of austenitic stainless steel. In addition to standard dewar, dewar with bigger neck is available on demand to accommodate liquid helium transfer lines. It is also convenient for the test of superconductor electrode and the experiment that requires inserting or impregnating the test piece into liquefied helium.
● No need for liquefied nitrogen shield
● Durable and suitable for truck transport and frequent daily use
● Extensively applied for the helium distribution, scientific research equipment cooling and factory liquefied helium storage
● Integrated casters and base
