Sinopec makes a major breakthrough in helium purification technology!

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According to a report on November 30, Sinopec announced that the first helium purification unit developed by the company achieved successful operation during its first trial run at the Chongqing Petroleum LNG plant, producing high-purity helium of qualified standard. This project can produce over 20 tons of high-purity helium with a purity of 99.999% per year. Helium features low density, low boiling point, good thermal conductivity, and stable chemical properties, and is widely used in high-tech fields such as aerospace, the electronics industry, and biomedicine. However, our country has relatively scarce helium resources, and the technology for extracting helium is relatively backward; over 95% of helium resources rely on imports. At present, helium resources with practical application value come solely from helium-containing natural gas, and it is necessary to effectively purify and utilize helium. Due to the complex composition of natural gas exhaust, the kinetic diameters of methane, nitrogen, and helium molecules are very similar, making it extremely difficult to extract helium. It is reported that this helium purification project utilizes key technologies such as highly efficient deep dehydrogenation and membrane-based helium separation, which were independently developed by the Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Technology under Sinopec, thereby achieving innovations and breakthroughs from process development to industrial application technologies. To date, BEIC has filed 14 Chinese invention patents and 2 foreign patents for related technologies. IT Home has learned that the helium used in this project comes from the Chongqing Petroleum LNG plant; by purifying the factory’s exhaust gases, which are rich in helium and hydrogen, waste is transformed into a valuable resource, resulting in helium products with a purity of 99.999%. Next, Sinopec will develop improved processes tailored to the low abundance of helium resources in China, in order to further reduce the energy consumption of these processes, enhance their stability, and continuously boost China’s helium production capacity, thereby meeting the needs of the country’s economic development.