More bad news for helium prices?

[dberry]

Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) had this story line today (it's subscription only, so the link may be useless). Our labs buy liquid helium by the hundreds of liters, but I know the pain would be felt by trimix divers, too:

http://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i26/Helium-shortage-looms.html

Helium shortage looms
Qatar blockade cuts 30% of global supply and threatens price increases for scientific instrument users

The blockade of Qatar that started on June 5 has shut down the source of 30% of the world’s helium, threatening another round of shortages and price increases for scientific instrument users.

 

[Compressor]

Thanks for the info. No good as there is no good alternative gas.

 

[blac86]

Thanks for the info. No good as there is no good alternative gas.

What you don't wanna risk exploding Diving hydrox? (Mmmm delicious)

 

[kafkaland]

Thanks for the info. No good as there is no good alternative gas.

Well, there is one alternative: helium recycling. Also known as rebreather diving in our circles. During the last helium shortage many medical and scientific users invested in helium recycling facilities, and if this trend continues, it will eventually justify rebreathers just from a cost perspective.

 

[dberry]

Well, there is one alternative: helium recycling. Also known as rebreather diving in our circles. During the last helium shortage many medical and scientific users invested in helium recycling facilities, and if this trend continues, it will eventually justify rebreathers just from a cost perspective.

Yes, helium recycling makes sense. 30 years ago we had a home-brew system that was a bunch of PVC pipes leading to an enormous rubber bladder (think "bouncy house"). When the giant balloon was full, a compressor / purification / liquifaction system kicked in to put the genie back into the bottle. That system was eventually junked (when He prices were fairly low.) The systems for scientific equipment have gotten more compact and efficient (but are very expensive.)

 

[sea_ledford]

This is so annoying... I spent the last 2 months trying to get helium from Airgas (I work for the state and we have a contract with them, so it's not like I'm a small potatos customer). The gas wasn't the issue, the problem was none of the plants were willing to give up their storage bottles! So if I would have bought my own K or T bottles, I'd be in business. Apparently they would rather have them sitting in their inventory than out making money. FFS airgas, get some more tanks!

But more importantly, isn't HE a byproduct (or co-product would be more appropriate) of natural gas? Aren't we in the biggest natural gas boom ever? Why is there a shortage of HE? It makes no sense unless there just isn't enough HE capturing options associated with natural gas production. The whole thing is dumb and makes me think it's all made up like the rarity of diamonds.

-Chris

 

[Pullnglide]

This is so annoying... I spent the last 2 months trying to get helium from Airgas (I work for the state and we have a contract with them, so it's not like I'm a small potatos customer). The gas wasn't the issue, the problem was none of the plants were willing to give up their storage bottles! So if I would have bought my own K or T bottles, I'd be in business. Apparently they would rather have them sitting in their inventory than out making money. FFS airgas, get some more tanks!

But more importantly, isn't HE a byproduct (or co-product would be more appropriate) of natural gas? Aren't we in the biggest natural gas boom ever? Why is there a shortage of HE? It makes no sense unless there just isn't enough HE capturing options associated with natural gas production. The whole thing is dumb and makes me think it's all made up like the rarity of diamonds.

-Chris

I know there is a contract but do you have the option to use another company. If so, do you have a Nexair nearby? I've had much better results with them as compared to Airgas.

 

[dberry]

I'm not positive, but I believe the He content of natural gas depends a great deal on local geology. Texas gas reserves contain (or contained) a fair amount of He (from decay of natural radioisotopes), but those deposits (along with oil) are in big "pools" that accumlated underground. The current boom in natural gas is mainly from fracking, and maybe the He accumulation is different in the shale formations? Natural gas from Qatar, for example, would seem to be tied to the more traditional type of oil / gas deposits.

 

[boulderjohn]

I spent the last 2 months trying to get helium from Airgas

I used to get my helium from Airgas--routine process. Then one time there was a substitute employee from another office working, and he asked what I was using it for. I told him. He then refused to sell it. He said the helium they had was not pure enough for breathing. I would have to get a higher level of purity. OK, I said, give me that higher level. Sorry--we don't handle it.

So I shopped around and found another supplier that sold very high purity helium--at a much lower price.

 

[kafkaland]

Actually, all commercial helium is of very high purity, because what they sell in cylinders is the boiloff from the liquefaction process. At those temperatures any contaminant has long frozen out and is trivially removed. That's why there is no low-purity, unsuitable for breathing, helium in the market.