"Helium Shortage?" Topic

I was just looking at the website for my company's purchasing department and spotted this announcement:

"Helium Shortage

There is a world-wide helium shortage. Our contracted vendor, Airgas, will not be able to deliver more than an allotted amount  per month. Please contact the Purchasing department  for additional information." 

I know that scientists have been complaining for years about wasting helium on silly things like balloons. There really is a limited supply of the stuff. Are we finally running out?

There's plenty on the Sun.

Too many people on tv and film sound like they are inhaling helium these days.

Dan
PS. "I know that scientists have been complaining for years about wasting helium on silly things like balloons.". Funny. I'm sure the complaining goes both ways. :)

Yes.

It is an element so you can't make any more.

It is so light that once it is released into the atmosphere it keeps going up until it is lost to space.

It has important uses in medical equipment and stuff.

So using it for frivolous purposes seems a touch irresponsible!

Does this mean that we should start filling balloons with hydrogen again?

That would be so cool!

Dan
PS. And Fire Marshall Bill could demonstrate how it can be done safely:

We've been running out of it since 1942.

There's plenty on the Sun.

In other words, it's a non-renewable resource.

PS. "I know that scientists have been complaining for years about wasting helium on silly things like balloons.". Funny. I'm sure the complaining goes both ways. :)

You mean that the party balloon industry is complaining that the scientists are wasting too much helium by running MRI machines and growing semi conductor crystals?

Where do we get helium from?

"Helium is usually produced as a side product of natural gas processing." link

Then let's produce more natural gas. Win-win. Or does that make too much sense for the terra-philes to manage?

Dan

There are five important facts about helium :

1) It's the second most common element in the universe
2) It's so light most of it simply escapes from our atmosphere, therefore it's rare on earth.
3) Despite being the second most abundant in the universe, much of it is trapped in stars, much lower quantities can be found in some super-heavy gas giants and highly diffuse quantities are found in outer space.
4) It doesn't react much with other elements so there aren't compounds we can split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Much of our helium is a by-product of radioactive decay and as said before, found mainly in natural gas pockets.
5) It's a city on Barsoom.

The good news is that we have yet untapped reserves and there are methods to filter it from our atmosphere, they are expensive, but if demand keeps up the process may become an economically viable option, the downside is that only very rich people will be able to afford party balloons.

Getting it from outer space is even less economical than getting the fraction of the 1% of the gas in our atmosphere.

As for getting it from planets like Jupiter, that's probably another 50-100 years in the future. As with many things, high-yield+profit space mining will be the pathfinder for secondary operations like getting Helium.

"Helium is usually produced as a side product of natural gas processing."

Somewhat correct.

From your link, you only picked the third way in which helium is made…..and the least important. Most of the helium found on Earth is from the decay of radioactive elements. It's basically a non renewable resource.

Fractional distillation of natural gas to make helium is also a non-renewable resource. Banning helium balloons is step in the right direction.

Then let's produce more natural gas. Win-win. Or does that make too much sense for the terra-philes to manage?

You don't "make" or "produce" natural gas, Dan. At least not the stuff with Helium in it. You discover pre-existing natural deposits. The helium (maybe up to 7% of the total gas) is found in these deposits. We don't and can't make any of this stuff.

…..the downside is that only very rich people will be able to afford party balloons.

Yep, and at the expense of more important things……like MRI machines.

A few more facts about Helium

The US has/had the largest helium reserve in the world, approximately 30%. Set aside by Congress in 1925 the National Reserve was added to over the years. The original purpose of the reserve was to supply gas for airships. In 1995 Congress ordered that the reserve was to be phased out. The helium infrastructure was to be sold off (privatized). In 2013 Congress ordered the Helium reserve program to be extended.

link

link

Bowman: "We don't and can't make any of this stuff."

Sorry if I led you to believe that. I meant extracted. Let's get that stuff out. We still have lots of unfilled party balloons to put to good use.

Dan

Maybe we need to have Strategic Helium Licenses, with a check box.

The use I will put helium to is
1. Serious
2. Frivolous

Or we can make floating balloons using hydrogen instead. So no "Frivolous Licence" needed. Plus it makes blowing the candles out on the Birthday Cake that much more exciting!

Would I need a License for Cartoon Voice? I'm sure hydrogen can be used for that, especially by smokers.

@ Bowman: Only because you don't want soggy cake.

Light a hydrogen balloon, and you get…water. Not really all that hazardous, compared to all the other flammables at a birthday party, like wrapping paper, party hats, the cake, etc,. On the other hand, storing hydrogen for balloons might be a tad more…interesting.

I'm sure one of the usual suspects will come up with a proposal to tax your "helium footprint".

Bowman,
I already made that suggestion. I thought it would be fun.

Light a hydrogen balloon, and you get…water. Not really all that hazardous, compared to all the other flammables at a birthday party, like wrapping paper, party hats, the cake, etc,……

Hmmm……not exactly

2H2 + O2 —> 2H2O + Energy

Namely 241.8 kilojoules per mole of H2. That could be enough to ignite the rest of the flammables. The kids would still need sparklers as exploding hydrogen is almost invisible. They are probably more dangerous.

@Bowman: Okay, true. But it makes for a neat science experiment (that's not really all that dangerous, given the limited volume of hydrogen in a party balloon): link

For a single balloon, the radius of the reaction is going to be minimal (maybe about 20cm, using the video as a point from which to judge). A bunch together, however, could be…interesting.

For a single balloon, the radius of the reaction is going to be minimal…..

Depends on the size of the balloon. The radius of reaction on the Hindenburg included the entire vessel.

But your point is taken. In a controlled environment, like the science lecture hall, there is little danger. I'd still be nervous at a 10 year old's birthday party. Plus his balloons already contained 30% O2. That means the reaction would not really need to ignite any of the O2 outside of the balloon, limiting the external effects. I tried unsuccessfully to Google the % of Hydrogen used in the Zeppelins. As the lift of the machine is paramount, I'll assume it was pure H2.

Btw, the Hindenburg and the other Zeppelins were originally designed to use Helium. But that's another story…….

Of course, in the Hindenburg disaster, the primary problem and fuel of the fire wasn't the H2, it was the powdered aluminum coating on the gas bags. As you note, the H2 must mix with 02 to explode or burn. In a latex balloon under pressure, this happens relatively quickly after the "pop" of the balloon aids in the forced dispersion of the hydrogen into the surrounding air. In a gas bag situation, there isn't a pop, and so no immediate or even rapid dispersion of H2, and thus no rapid mixing. At most you get a point of flame at the rip, burning only the amount of H2 escaping from the tear, not unlike a flame rising from the slots in a gas grill. If the bag isn't flammable and is of tear-resistant construction, you won't get an explosion or even a significant flame. It's conceivable you could even smother the fire and preserve the remaining H2. It would be not unlike the old science experiment where one sticks a burning splint into an inverted test tube of H2, yielding a brief flame at the mouth but a subsequently smothered splint.
It is the splint in an O2 tube that virtually explodes into ash.

So clearly, one merely needs to remove all the oxygen from the party room, and no fiery death will result!