Helium

Honest John Back Room » General discussion ( non motoring )
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Mon 25 Nov 2013 13:56
Helium - DrippingSump

Is there an alternative to helium? The short answer is no because it is an element. The real question should be is there another element that has the same properties as helium. I hope so. Because it occurred to me a while back that helium, although one of the most abundant elements in the universe is a very limited and finite resource here on Earth and it should not be wasted.

This topic has now actually come up in the news and scientists are concerned about the waste of helium because it is a special gas and it is used for industry, science, and medical purposes and when it is all gone those things will be affected and that is very bad news. So using it to inflate party balloons is not smart because once released into the atmosphere it just floats away into space.

I guess when it is all gone there will be a collective Eeeeeek! But of course it won’t sound as good without a whiff of helium.

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Mon 25 Nov 2013 15:54
Helium - Andrew-T

< ... using it to inflate party balloons is not smart because once released into the atmosphere it just floats away into space. >

I agree that is a silly way to use helium. But it won't just float off into space, because the main source of it is extraction from the atmosphere - so if that is where it goes it should be possible to extract most of it again. The only alternative light gas is hydrogen, which is much more available but tends to catch fire (or worse) too easily - remember the Hindenburg or R101.

Helium is pretty essential stuff for work at extremely low temperature, near absolute zero, as it has the lowest known freezing point.

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Mon 25 Nov 2013 16:59
Helium - galileo

Some oilfields have Helium along with oil and gas so it can be extracted along with other gases, this is probably cheaper than extracting it from atmospheric air which only has a very small percentage.

I agree it is a waste in party ballooons, but like so many issues the poor level of scientific education (especially among politicians since the Iron Lady) and short term commercial factors means this will continue.

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Mon 25 Nov 2013 17:44
Helium - Andrew-T

Having googled a bit, I realise that much helium is a by-product of oil & gas extraction, but it is still in the atmosphere, which is fractionated to obtain nitrogen and other gases.

The strange thing is that the US has a huge stockpile of the stuff, which it has been selling off. Is it kept in Fort Knox?

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Mon 25 Nov 2013 20:06
Helium - Bobbin Threadbare

It is incredibly expensive stuff - my entire PhD was based on the physics of helium...ballons containing it fill me with rage.

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