What happend about the looming worldwide helium shortage

Bill D · May 8, 2022

Several years ago the claim was helium was being wasted and used up with the end of supplies in sight. There would be a big effect in welding and supercooled stuff like medical scanners. Claim was russia was the only one left producing any.
Bill D

First good article I can find below.

Just a moment...

cmccull166 · May 8, 2022

Milland said:
We do produce some here, as a byproduct of gas extraction:

is helium recovered from gas production? - Google Search

If thats the case it could be a market for Exxon's 6 billion dollar cracker plant being
built in Monaca PA..without looking it up to be competed next year or 2024?

I know at one point there was talk of a second plant being built in the same area.
This should make the anti frackers heads explode

Bill D · May 8, 2022

Califonia is set to outlaw fracking. Most of the oil is very deep and below the water table so no effect on drinking water anyway. Kind of a feel good law that will have no benefits and massive costs.
Kind of like only buying gluten free meat. Or beef where no dolphins were harmed in the catching.
Bill D

Mark Rand · May 8, 2022

Bill D said:
Several years ago the claim was helium was being wasted and used up with the end of supplies in sight. There would be a big effect in welding and supercooled stuff like medical scanners. Claim was russia was the only one left producing any.
Bill D

First good article I can find below.

Just a moment...

I would humbly suggest that a small facility that requires 100l of liquid helium per week (that's 10 cubic metres per day of vented gas) should have invested in re-liquification plant years ago. To use liquid helium purely for cooling in the same manner that one might use liquid nitrogen is nigh on criminal...

Rob L · May 8, 2022

Mark Rand said:
I would humbly suggest that a small facility that requires 100l of liquid helium per week (that's 10 cubic metres per day of vented gas) should have invested in re-liquification plant years ago. To use liquid helium purely for cooling in the same manner that one might use liquid nitrogen is nigh on criminal...

That reminds of a video I saw (possibly Tom Scott?) on youtube where someone at a helium supplier was asked whether using it in party baloons and other such things was a waste of an important and limited resource and the response was "Well it's not going to run out before I die so I don't care".

Typical of just plain wasteful use of resources that is widespread, I wonder if when it does eventually run out or be so scarce it may as well be and people can't get an MRI scan anymore they'll be so glad that scientists burnt through it all running their zippy vanity tubes underground trying to work out how the universe started or other arguably useless experiments. Funny how they want everyone else to cut back or cut out use of fossil fuels entirely but the moment someone wants to cut funding to their LHCs they'll be up in arms about it, maybe they should focus their big brains on developing better green and renewable energy that would actually have a meaningful benefit for the tax payers funding them.

But hey, that's just my increasingly devalued 2 pence.

camscan · May 9, 2022

Bill D said:
Several years ago the claim was helium was being wasted and used up with the end of supplies in sight. There would be a big effect in welding and supercooled stuff like medical scanners. Claim was russia was the only one left producing any.
Bill D

First good article I can find below.

Just a moment...

Last report I read said it was all up in the air at the moment.

DDoug · May 9, 2022

cmccull166 said:
If thats the case it could be a market for Exxon's 6 billion dollar cracker plant being
built in Monaca PA..without looking it up to be competed next year or 2024?

I know at one point there was talk of a second plant being built in the same area.
This should make the anti frackers heads explode

1. It's Shell's cracker plant in Monaca Pa.
2. The greenies heads did explode, and so they banned any cracker plants to be built in Allegheny county (Pizzaborg).
Not that any company risk investing in that county anyways.
3. The Exxon plant is planned to be built in nearby W.Va.

Flail · May 9, 2022

It’s joined up with the sulfur hexafloride craze. Who knows what those crazy kids will think up next!

https://youtu.be/A7XdOyZIkko

Georgineer · May 9, 2022

Flail said:
It’s joined up with the sulfur hexafloride craze. Who knows what those crazy kids will think up next!

https://youtu.be/A7XdOyZIkko

That was fun - I've always wondered how it would sound if you breathe SF6. It would be fun to breathe some of the other inert gases and record a quartet with myself.

George

P.S. Sulphur Hexafluoride is used in high voltage switchgear. They were experimenting with it in the lab next door when I was an apprentice. I was told to make sure never to breathe it after it has been arced.

Bill D · May 9, 2022

camscan said:
Last report I read said it was all up in the air at the moment.

Not true. It goes into the atmosphere and rises into space where solar wind washes it away never to come back.
Hydrogen is combined with lots of stuff and can be split off into pure gas so losing some into space is not a big deal.
What will Vegas do if neon is gone? I think most other noble gases are heavy enough they stay in the atmosphere if released.
Bill D

Trueturning · May 9, 2022

Bill D said:
Califonia is set to outlaw fracking. Most of the oil is very deep and below the water table so no effect on drinking water anyway. Kind of a feel good law that will have no benefits and massive costs.
Kind of like only buying gluten free meat. Or beef where no dolphins were harmed in the catching.
Bill D

That is the call of the State. I do not see what great harm would be done either if they just left it alone. It would only save money if they do not implement a ban. I understand the zeal with green energy and all. California is a real powerhouse of capitalism and always will be.

Trueturning · May 9, 2022

camscan said:
Last report I read said it was all up in the air at the moment.

Really good one.

Tyrone Shoelaces · May 9, 2022

Where I live those little metal cylinders are left lying all over place. Hundreds of them. I should really collecting them and taking them to the scrap merchants.

Regards Tyrone.

nt1953 · May 9, 2022

NASA uses an immense amount of helium to purge and precool the tanks on Hydrogen fueled rockets. That is one of many reasons that most of the private companies do not use Hydrogen fuel on their rockets.

I do not know if helium will be required on hydrogen powered cars. As long as they don't have liquid hydrogen, they could probably use some other inert gas to purge the tanks.

DDoug · May 9, 2022

Bill D said:
Califonia is set to outlaw fracking. Most of the oil is very deep and below the water table so no effect on drinking water anyway. Kind of a feel good law that will have no benefits and massive costs.
Kind of like only buying gluten free meat. Or beef where no dolphins were harmed in the catching.
Bill D

New York state did a few years ago....recall when Yoko and other wacko's got on a bus ?

Bill D · May 9, 2022

digger doug said:
New York state did a few years ago....recall when Yoko and other wacko's got on a bus ?

I thought east coast oil was shallower then western. So the water table could be affected by petroleum production.
AFAIK Califonia oil wells are an average of one mile deep. Water less then 500 feet or so. Deeper then that the water is mostly too salty to use
Bill D

Finegrain · May 9, 2022

Bill D said:
Several years ago the claim was helium was being wasted and used up with the end of supplies in sight. There would be a big effect in welding and supercooled stuff like medical scanners. Claim was russia was the only one left producing any.

The US is the world's largest producer of liquified helium, followed by Qatar.

Currently, nearly all commercial Helium is by-catch during natural gas production. Some natural gas fields, in NM for example, contain 5-7% Helium!

BTW, the earth is constantly making fresh Helium, as a result of radioactive decay.

BTW^2, Helium is believed to make up around 1/4 of the entire mass of the universe :crazy:

Regards.

Mike

camscan · May 10, 2022

Bill D said:
Not true. It goes into the atmosphere and rises into space where solar wind washes it away never to come back.
Hydrogen is combined with lots of stuff and can be split off into pure gas so losing some into space is not a big deal.
What will Vegas do if neon is gone? I think most other noble gases are heavy enough they stay in the atmosphere if released.
Bill D

The way that I am reading your reply suggests that its all up in the air at the moment.

Bill D · May 10, 2022

Some small percent is up in the air but it quickly rises to the top of the atmosphere and drifts off into space. I would guess it is gone in under a week or so. It only has to go 120 miles or so until it is gone forever. There is a reason He is used to find leaks.
Bill D

camscan · May 10, 2022

Bill D said:
Some small percent is up in the air but it quickly rises to the top of the atmosphere and drifts off into space. I would guess it is gone in under a week or so. It only has to go 120 miles or so until it is gone forever. There is a reason He is used to find leaks.
Bill D

Gotcha, it all disappears through those black holes.

What happend about the looming worldwide helium shortage

Diamond

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Aluminum

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Titanium

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