Why can’t air separation units separate helium from air

Does China have places to extract helium independently? Is all the helium used in the country imported?

Why isn’t there an air separation unit for extracting helium? Go and take a look at Wuhan Iron and Steel or Handan Iron and Steel! Helium is only purified to a rough grade through air separation; further purification is required via subsequent systems.

This is because the amount of helium in air is extremely low; without an air separation unit with a capacity of over 80,000 Nm3/h, you won’t even have enough feed gas. Another source of helium is natural gas.

1. Helium is present in too small amounts in the air. 2. There are no large enough air separation units in the country. 3. The investment required for helium purification is disproportionate. 4. Air separation is not the main method for producing helium. 5. Helium in the country mainly comes from imports, with domestic repackaging taking place thereafter

The helium content in the air is 5.24 ppm, which is too low; it can be extracted from the air, but it is not economical to do so. This is because several natural gas fields in the United States have a very high helium content, ranging from 0.8% to 7.5%, while those in other places have only 0.0X%.

Can the purity achieved through subsequent purification reach 5N or 6N?

Extracting helium from air separation is technically feasible; at least Hangyang has no problems with this. Currently, domestic air separation manufacturers do not produce helium, as the production costs are much higher than those of purchasing helium directly from the market (which mainly comes from the United States), making it cheaper to buy it directly. Of course, from a **practical standpoint, to ensure the safety of helium supply,** policy incentives should be provided to support the development of equipment for extracting helium through air separation. The fact that there are no technical issues at the moment doesn’t mean that equipment will be produced as soon as the price of helium drops to a level that makes air separation extraction economically viable; after all, a process of debugging and adjustment is required. It’s possible to produce a set of equipment in advance for testing purposes, so as to ensure that the technology works properly, and then suspend production until everything is ready.

Are there any manufacturers producing helium in China now?

Helium is present in such small amounts in the air that its production cost is higher than purchasing it directly from the market; I’m not too sure about other aspects, so I’m learning from all of you.

In Sichuan, China, there is a facility for extracting helium from natural gas. As long as there is demand from customers, Hangyang is certainly capable of designing and producing devices for extracting helium from air separation units; it’s just that no one wants to buy them. Chuan Air should also have this capability