Future of OC trimix

[Tracy]

If I can get the helium, I will be teaching it at Rock Lake, a 280 foot deep sinkhole on private property in New Mexico.

I can't help you there. I have a few thousand feet on hand, but it won't help you in New Mexico.

 

[rddvet]

I get my helium and oxygen through the medical facility I own. I’m lucky because they won’t cut off my helium on me.

 

[Garth]

My gas supplier in Charlotte, NC told me initially they have a hold on all helium sold to customers outside of a small list like hospitals and other required uses. They do not have a hold on ultra high purity so I was able to get it. I'm pretty concerned that I won't be able to purchase at some point. Price only went up about $20 since end of last year.

 

[boulderjohn]

Here is an interesting explanation for the current state of affairs.

Helium is again in short supply

<p>The war in Ukraine isn’t much of a factor, yet.</p>

physicstoday.scitation.org

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Was this ever tapped into? Scientists Found a Huge Reservoir of Much-Needed Helium

This is worrisome: The world is running out of helium: Nobel prize winner

There is no chemical way of manufacturing helium, and the supplies we have originated in the very slow radioactive alpha decay that occurs in rocks. It costs around 10,000 times more to extract helium from air than it does from rocks and natural gas reserves.

 

[KevinNM]

Was this ever tapped into? Scientists Found a Huge Reservoir of Much-Needed Helium

This is worrisome: The world is running out of helium: Nobel prize winner

There is no chemical way of manufacturing helium, and the supplies we have originated in the very slow radioactive alpha decay that occurs in rocks. It costs around 10,000 times more to extract helium from air than it does from rocks and natural gas reserves.

Helium is in the gas (and liquids) left over after an air separation plant pulls out the nitrogen, exygen and argon. Neon, xenon, krypton, hydrogen are some of the trst. But you need to producing tons of argon to get much of anything else, and it’s unclear to me how complex and expensive further separation past argon is.

 

[broncobowsher]

Helium is in the gas (and liquids) left over after an air separation plant pulls out the nitrogen, exygen and argon. Neon, xenon, krypton, hydrogen are some of the trst. But you need to producing tons of argon to get much of anything else, and it’s unclear to me how complex and expensive further separation past argon is.

Yes, but there is such a tiny amount it doesn't make sense to try and collect it when there is a much easier and plentiful source coming off the natural gas wells. To pull it out of thin air you are only getting a few grams of Helium per many many tankers of liquid Nitrogen and liquid Oxygen. For all they are distilling, they are not even getting that much Argon out of the mix.

 

[KevinNM]

Yes, but there is such a tiny amount it doesn't make sense to try and collect it when there is a much easier and plentiful source coming off the natural gas wells. To pull it out of thin air you are only getting a few grams of Helium per many many tankers of liquid Nitrogen and liquid Oxygen. For all they are distilling, they are not even getting that much Argon out of the mix.

It only makes sense if you are already going for krypton, Xenon and/or Neon. In theory, the gas left at about about 10K should be pretty much all helium, though in practice it’s probably not that simple.

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

No shortage of helium here in Australia, price has remained pretty stable for the past 10 years at around $450AUD for G cylinder (9.1m3) works out at around 4.5 cents per litre.

Even so open circuit trimix is a mugs game far better, safer, simpler (logistically) bust most importantly much more enjoyable to go CCR.

 

[lermontov]

No shortage of helium here in Australia, price has remained pretty stable for the past 10 years at around $450AUD for G cylinder (9.1m3) works out at around 4.5 cents per litre.

Even so open circuit trimix is a mugs game far better, safer, simpler (logistically) bust most importantly much more enjoyable to go CCR.

you should be glad -NZ price for Baloon grade