Abstract
Helium is the second most abundant element in the Universe after hydrogen. Considerable resources of helium-3 isotope (He3) are located mostly outside the Earth. He3 is very important for science and industry, especially for airport neutron detectors, lung tomography and helium dilution refrigerators. Besides, global warming is forcing the industry and governments to search for alternative energy sources, and He3 has the potential to be used as fuel in future nuclear fusion power plants. Unfortunately, the price of gaseous He3 has recently increased from $200 per liter to over $2750. The expected further increase in price and demands led us to present an analysis of the economic profitability for He3 separation process, which utilizes the properties of superfluid helium. This paper shows the arguments supporting the idea that extraction from natural sources is the only economically viable way of obtaining He3 isotope nowadays. The method could be relatively easily implemented into the production cycles of the low temperature natural gas purification plant.
Highlights
The global market suffers heavy shortages in the supply of helium isotope—helium-3 isotope (He3) [1,2]
Since industrial installations that purify natural gas often liquefy helium, we will discuss the method of He3 separation using the superfluidity of He4, which can be adapted in the gas production process along with a discussion of the cost-effectiveness of this process
Our experimental system consists of a 25 L He3/He4 tank, with a capillary heat exchanger [23], two pumps needed for filtration and temperature reduction and a mass spectrometer
Summary
The global market suffers heavy shortages in the supply of helium isotope—He3 [1,2]. The main sources of He3 are stores of radioactive products, including nuclear weapons. The worldwide trend of limiting the arsenals of these weapons is one of the main reasons why it is difficult to expect an increase in the He3 supply. The demand constantly increases, due to the growing threat of terrorist attacks. Almost 85% of He3 is being used in fissile material neutron detectors. He3 isotope might become even more important with the advent of nuclear fusion. The attempts to acquire He3 from various sources intensified and this paper tries to answer the question of profitability of acquiring the isotope from natural gas deposits
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