Fear of damage to science and technology due to a reduction in the helium gas stock

In America, helium is running out. The solution - increasing recycling

The element that allows balloons to fly, voices to change and bodies to refresh is depleting so quickly in the world's largest reservoir, outside Amarillo, Texas, that its contents are expected to be completely gone within eight years. The biggest impact of this situation is on science and technology, according to Dr. Lee Sobotka, a professor of chemistry and physics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. "The use of helium in science is very extensive, but its most important role is as a refrigerant," says Sobotka, an expert in nuclear chemistry and physics who collaborates in his research with researchers from several national laboratories. In general, the "heavy" users of helium (He), such as the national laboratories, have appropriate infrastructures that allow them to recycle and use helium efficiently, says Sobotka. But this is not the case for many other "light" users. Helium is used in the fields of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectroscopy, welding, the production of computer chips and optical fibers, among its many other technological uses. NASA uses large amounts annually to maintain a constant and controlled pressure of the fuel stocks in the space shuttles. "Helium is an energy resource that is not renewable or replaceable. Its properties are unique and unlike in the case of hydrocarbon fuels (fuel or natural gas), there are no biosynthetic ways to prepare its substitutes. Everyone must make the utmost effort to recycle it," says the researcher.

drift

The helium present on Earth has been accumulated over many millions of years as a result of the decay of the natural elements uranium and thorium. The decomposition of these elements progresses at an irregular rate. For example, one of the most important isotopes for obtaining helium is uranium-238. During the entire life span of the earth, only about half of the uranium-238 atoms decayed, giving eight helium atoms from each uranium atom, in the general process. Such partial and inconsistent disintegration occurs every 1000 years or so. During the decay of uranium and thorium, part of the helium atoms that are released is captured in natural gas deposits that exist in different geological layers. Some of the helium atoms formed seep out of the Earth's mantle and drift into the atmosphere, where they exist at a concentration of 5 ppm (five parts per million). However, this helium, as well as any other helium that is eventually released into the atmosphere by those who use it, is swept up and essentially lost forever. "When we use all the helium that has accumulated over the nearly 4.5 billion years that the Earth has existed, its supply will be completely depleted," says Sobotka. We have no possibility of receiving significant amounts of helium from the sun - which can be seen as a helium factory at a distance of about one hundred and fifty million kilometers - and not even from any other factory that will be built on Earth. Eventually, it will be possible to produce helium directly in nuclear fusion reactors and indirectly in nuclear fission reactors, but the quantities obtained in these processes are dwarfed compared to the quantities we will need. Unlike other elements, helium-4 (two protons and two neutrons) liquefies below a temperature of 4.2 Kelvin (-269 degrees Celsius), just four degrees above absolute zero. When an object is brought close to liquid helium, energy is transferred from that object to the helium and thus cools the object. The energy released from the object causes the helium to vaporize. These helium vapors, Sobotka explains, should be captured by the user in order to recycle them and use them in the future. Most of the world's helium supply comes from deposits that exist on the edge of the state of Texas. The scientists did not even begin to think about extracting helium from the air because the costs of such a process are extremely high.

A loner, a rebel

Both hydrogen and helium, the first two elements in the periodic table, are extremely common in the universe (close to 92% and 8% of all atoms, respectively). Helium is rare on Earth, while hydrogen is very common. The reason for this is that helium is isolated and rebel, and does not join other atoms while hydrogen does. Hydrogen is one of the two elements that make up water. Under standard conditions, there are no molecular or combined forms of helium. "It is the most noble of the existing gases, which means it is stable and most inactive, in most cases," says Sobotka. "Helium has a closed electronic configuration, that is - its atoms are tight and compressed. If you try to remove an electron from the helium atom, you have to invest a lot of energy for that. Its ionization energy (the minimum energy that must be invested in order to release an electron from the atom) is extremely high. It is this greed of helium for its electrons that prevents it from combining with other atoms." In addition to the Texas deposit, helium can be found in smaller areas in Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. It is also marketed in Australia and Algeria. Russia has the most extensive natural gas deposits in the world, where helium reserves are sure to exist. There is still no motivation to market large quantities of helium, because in the short term, for now, the supply is sufficient, but the price for this product is rising rapidly. Sobotka believes that Russia will become the main helium supplier in the world within the next thirty years. The price of liquid helium today is 5 dollars per liter, and this price is after a fifty percent increase in value over the last few years due to what Sobotka calls "routine economics". He attributes this to the withdrawal of some companies from the market, to the appearance of others that do not yet produce the helium and the motivation behind high prices, as well as to the low prices, for now, of this element. Helium production in the US began immediately after World War I, when the main use for this gas was for airships. Since helium is non-flammable, its use in balloons prevented other cases such as the Hindenburg disaster (a German airship, made by a Zeppelin that burned completely during an attempt to land in New Jersey, in the United States, on May 6, 1937. The fire killed 36 people: 13 passengers, 22 crew crew and one ground crew member. 62 other people who were on the ship were saved). The US government managed the helium industry for 70 years, but since the mid-XNUMXs most of the production has been transferred to the fuel and natural gas companies.

The simple truth

"Governments have the right vision to store helium, and the question now is: Will industry have the vision to capture it when natural gas is extracted, and consumers the wisdom to recycle it?" Sobotka says. "To this end, a long-term vision is needed because current market forces are not sufficient to force a wise use of the current helium stockpile." Helium is used in a secondary role in the fuel and natural gas markets, and most of it is lost in the process of removing non-combustible nitrogen and helium from the main product. "When they insert the suction pipe into the soil to extract the fuel and gas, the helium is also released, and if it is not captured it evaporates into the air and is wasted," says Sobotka. Helium production is a side industry to the fuel and natural gas industry, a secondary effort that no one is willing to invest in." In the meantime, laboratories around the world will have to work harder to preserve helium. They will be able to use one of the following ways: 1) using cheap machines called liquefiers that allow helium to be captured, stored and liquefied on the spot, or 2) the researchers will be able to take recycled helium in gaseous form, return it to the company that sold it to them in the first place and receive a refund, similar to a deposit on Different bottles. "It is our duty to think about these issues," he says. "Until now, the issue has not been important enough to bring it up for discussion frequently - this is a problem for the next generation of scientists. But it requires us to grow a vision and express the truth simply - helium is a non-renewable resource in a stricter way than fuel or natural gas."

For information on the website of Washington University in St. Louis