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A method recovers helium used for cooling instrumentation

A system to liquefy and recover helium at small and medium scale is a success story of cooperation between scientists and companies. The new method enables the recovery of the helium that has been used for cooling medical and scientific equipments.

The scientist Conrado Rillo with the new system. Photo: CSICScientists at the CSIC, at the University of Zaragoza, and the company GWR Instruments have developed and patented a system for liquefying and recovering the helium at small and medium scale. The system can recover the whole helium used for cooling medical and scientific equipments.

“This technique reduces the consumption of this strategic gas, which is used either as a liquid or as a gas for medical and industrial facilities, and scientific research. Therefore, it supposes important savings as helium is scarce and expensive. The system is already replacing the current facilities of industrial recovery, which are very sophisticated and release part of the used helium to the atmosphere”, explains Conrado Rillo, main scientist of the project. Rillo is a CSIC scientist at the Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón, a joint institute of the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza.

The development is based on new techniques of recovering and purification of the gas produced when the liquid evaporates within the equipment. The liquefaction process adapts to the consumption, as the liquid produced is stored without leaks until it can be reused. “The system is based on the gas thermodynamic properties and it uses a new system of pressure and flow within the container where the liquid is stored”, says Conrado Rillo.

"With the new method, the savings can achieve up to 100% after a few weeks of the plant installation"

Helium is a fossil gas obtained from natural gas in a very few fields worldwide. It is a scarce and expensive strategic resource. It can cost up to 40 Euros per litre when is liquid, and between 10 and 30 Euros per cubic meter as a gas.

"With the new method, the savings can achieve up to 100% after a few weeks of the plant installation. The expenses are, therefore, the ones generated by electricity and the plant maintenance, an estimated cost of 1 or 2 Euros per litre produced”, explains Rillo.

The company Quantum Design International, one of the biggest companies in low temperature scientific instrumentation is starting the commercial exploitation of the product. This company from the USA bought the new technology through a worldwide commercial licence signed in 2011.