Grades of Helium

[Mike Edmonston]

Hi all,

I know and understand the different grades of Oxygen and why we use Medical and Aviator grade as opposed to Welding o2. But what is the difference between Balloon Helium, five nine's grade, laser grade and diving grade?

The price jumps from $50 to $180 for a bottle

Is is a particle issue that I can filter out with a 1 micron filter?

What exactly are the impurities that would be in balloon helium, but not in other grades?

BTW I blend all my own gases.

thanks everyone.

Cheers

Mike

 

[JimC]

Balloon Helium is not even close to pure so when people inhale from balloons they don't pass out.

 

[rjack321]

Hi all,

I know and understand the different grades of Oxygen and why we use Medical and Aviator grade as opposed to Welding o2. But what is the difference between Balloon Helium, five nine's grade, laser grade and diving grade?

The price jumps from $50 to $180 for a bottle

Is is a particle issue that I can filter out with a 1 micron filter?

What exactly are the impurities that would be in balloon helium, but not in other grades?

BTW I blend all my own gases.

thanks everyone.

Cheers

Mike

All sorts of gaseous stuff you don't want to breath (methane, nitrous oxide, etc.) at depth. The only test for ballon grade is to float a ballon, which even pure methane would do too (although it would be flammable).

That said, USP isn't exactly pure either (its 3 nines) and its not necessarily a good choice for breathing at depth, although many, many people do. I use 4 nines industrial grade and I checked with the lab that the volatile hydrocarbons are low (<0.5ppm). I pay about $76 for a 291cf T cylinder.

For super deep use and/or paranoia people also use 5 nines UHP grade.

Oh and I use welding O2 along with many many others. Same process, same stuff. Less paperwork.

 

[rainman_02]

Balloon Helium is not even close to pure so when people inhale from balloons they don't pass out.

Just for S&G I hooked up a trimix analyzer to balloon grade helium.

Less than 1% O2 and 97.8% He. I wonder what the rest was...guess I'll never know.

 

[wedivebc]

Just for S&G I hooked up a trimix analyzer to balloon grade helium.

Less than 1% O2 and 97.8% He. I wonder what the rest was...guess I'll never know.

Probably nitrogen.
The accuracy of an O2 cell is a little doubtful at such low concentrations and I think He analyzers have a 1% tolerance as well. The helium might be more pure than your analyzer leads you to believe

 

[rainman_02]

Probably nitrogen.
The accuracy of an O2 cell is a little doubtful at such low concentrations and I think He analyzers have a 1% tolerance as well. The helium might be more pure than your analyzer leads you to believe

I agree that it might be an accuracy issue. I was just pointing out that in the helium I analyzed there wasn't enough O2 to support life.

When the bottles were bought they were supposed to be HP, but the sticker said "for balloon use."

 

[Rick Inman]

I would also ask your supplier. Some add o2, some don't. For some, it's the same except for vacuuming quality.

BTW, we pay $68. for ultra.

 

[karstdvr]

BTW, we pay $68. for ultra.

Maybe for not much longer. Friend of mine was paying that,and last time he bought gas it went to $135

 

[loosebits]

Yep, talk to the supplier. For our gas, he confirmed it all came out of the same storage tank. The difference between the grades is the paper work they fill out and vacuuming the tanks. Just for a bit of a warm fuzzy, we are getting high purity for less than $70.

 

[rjack321]

I agree that it might be an accuracy issue. I was just pointing out that in the helium I analyzed there wasn't enough O2 to support life.

When the bottles were bought they were supposed to be HP, but the sticker said "for balloon use."

Since HE analyzers are really just high tech temp gauges you don't really know the contents. I.e. if the contaminants behave similarly to He, they will measure as He.

You'd need to know how the contaminant behaves thermally before knowing if the sensor was accurate.

Percent quantities of say nitrous oxide would be very very bad at depth.