I work for a company called Peak Scientific. We specialize in gas generators. I am the US sales coordinator and we have observed the sharp increases in helium prices. I'll be honest Im not technical enough to discuss the methodologies in recovering helium, but have noticed that many labs are switching to hydrogen as a carier gas, and flame source in FID. My company engineers our generators with the assistant of major OEM companies like Agilent, and Thermo. They are relatively inexpensive and can cut expenses like helium out of your budget many times in less then a year. I have some chromatograms of hydrogen vs. helium testing if anyone is interested please contact me.
