THE HELIUM CRUNCH: I first heard this discussed in the late 1990s by a fellow who had worked with the federal helium reserve. As the linked article notes, the reserve is located near Amarillo, Texas. The man told me that at some point the U.S. domestic capacity to supply helium for research would be sorely pressed. He foresaw increased demand world-wide and reduced supplies. He also said — correctly- that helium is a critical resource. It ain’t just for blimps and balloons.
From Physics Today:
“We’re in a crisis mode” when it comes to helium, says William Halperin, a physics professor at Northwestern University. A shortage of the inert gas and a rise in its price are plaguing experimental physicists and chemists whose research requires low temperatures. Although helium prices and availability are perennial gripes in the community (see Physics Today, January 2017, page 26), in recent months the supply has become so restricted by growing industrial demand that users have been forced to decommission superconducting magnets, a measure that could permanently render some useless.
In the last year, there have been three “shocks” to the helium supply, says Sophia Hayes, a Washington University in St Louis (WUSTL) chemistry professor who studies such topics as spin orientation in semiconductors and new materials for capturing carbon dioxide for sequestration. The supply has become so scarce and prices so high that Hayes has shut down two of six NMR spectrometers in her laboratory. The instruments are a standard tool for university chemistry departments, and many institutions have half a dozen or more of them. At the core of each is a high-field superconducting magnet that must at all times be kept cooler than liquid helium’s boiling point of 4.2 K.
If helium levels get too low, magnets will warm to their resistive state. The conversion of stored current to heat could damage the coil irreparably or prevent magnets from reattaining their original field strength. It’s a slow and expensive process to return the magnets to their superconducting mode, and they can require 1000 liters of helium—costing up to $25 000 at today’s prices, says Halperin.
Helium is a nonrenewable resource, and liquid helium has a limited shelf life. But distributors have recently been unwilling to supply it on the usual short notice, says Halperin. Unless, that is, customers are willing to pay an emergency fee of $25–$50 a liter.
A bit sensationalist, echoing eco-disaster and peak oil? Perhaps.
A bit more:
Research makes up a small fraction of total US helium consumption, just 8%, according to Intelligas Consulting, a market research firm. Larger uses include magnetic resonance imaging, weather-balloon and other lifting, electronics manufacturing, materials analysis, and instrument calibration. Phil Kornbluth, a helium market consultant, says total US demand is a little more than 56 million cubic meters (mcm) annually—about one-third of world consumption. With an annual output of about 96 mcm, the US is the world’s largest producer.
Kornbluth estimates the current deficit of supply worldwide at around 10%.
Think of this article as deep background. And stay tuned.
