He as a carrier gas are we living on borrowed time?

[MSCHemist]

With the increasingly dire He shortage do you think everyone is going to be pinched into using hydrogen as a carrier gas in the near future?

[HbJ]

Our supplier has been charging insane rates for helium lately.

So we had to make the switch for all of our GCs, even for our ion traps (who are working amazingly good with hydrogen).

[chromatographer1]

Since we haven't been able to devise a fusion reactor to produce helium cheaply, and there is a depletion of the few gas wells in the world which contain helium, and the US government no longer sees helium as a critical resource for national defense, it seems likely that the world's supply of helium will be decreasing. Of course, the price will be increasing as time goes on.

By the way, also expect the price of gold to increase during the next century and global warming to continue.

Argon may be a replacement for some inert gas applications since it is readily available as almost 1% of the atmosphere.

Few concepts seem so clear as the situation with helium.

best wishes,

Rod

[Consumer Products Guy]

I sure see a ton of helium balloons everywhere !!!

I'll believe a real shortage when those disappear.....

[chromatographer1]

CPG,



That might be a bit late, but good luck,

Rod

[Johnny Rod]

A ton? Blimey, that is a lot, given helium weighs so little...

[WK]

Hi,
I'm in the UK and we had a letter in July warning of limited supplies.
Has the situation in the UK or elsewhere
improved? Has anyone got any concrete info?
Regards
WK

[CE Instruments]

Demand for Helium continues to rise , supply is reducing. As a vendor of Hydrogen generators we would certainly recommend changing over all your GC systems Our systems start from just over £2k

[chromatographer1]

I will sell you a lot of helium balloons for $1 a cu ft for helium.

How many chromatograms will that much helium give you?

Send me your PO and I will sent you a bill.

Rod

[aldehyde]

Demand for Helium continues to rise , supply is reducing. As a vendor of Hydrogen generators we would certainly recommend changing over all your GC systems Our systems start from just over £2k

Do you have a website or catalog you can post? I have been recommending moving to H2 generators to all my customers and maybe you'll get some business .

I'm not worried about the scarcity--we'll be getting a lot of Helium as a byproduct of natural gas production which is booming in the US. That said, there are a lot better uses for helium (MRI / NMR for example) and using it for GC is such a waste when its not being recycled at all, and hydrogen works so much better anyway.

Agilent and Thermo would be brilliant to build a hydrogen generator directly into a GC .

[Peter Apps]

The mention of recycling recalls a thread several months ago where someone was looking at recycling the helium direct from the split and septum purge - the recent price rises make it an even more attractive proposition.

Peter

[chromatographer1]

It is not commonly known that not all natural gas production produces helium due to only small amounts present. It is expensive to isolate what little helium is present.

The natural gas produced in the Oklahoma-Texas region of North America contained significant amounts of helium and was worthwhile for helium production. It remains to be seen how much helium will be found in the newly fractured shale fields that are starting to produce.

If I remember correctly there is a field in Thailand that contains helium.

But there is really little reason to use helium except for MS applications. It is truly a limited natural resource that should not be wasted.

Rod

[MSCHemist]

From what I've seen helium is superior to hydrogen in every way except speed. Hydorgen is reactive and can react with analytes and solvent (chloroform and methylene chloride can form HCl gas in the instrument), has a high background, not as safe, and in general is a nightmare and if not for the shortage I wouldn't even consider switching.

[chromatographer1]

Your points are well taken. Trace hydrogenation of olefins can also occur when catalyzed with bare metal surfaces.

Due to toxicity, chlorinated solvents should be avoided. Long term liver and kidney damage is becoming better known.

But realizing we don't live in a perfect world, many general users can get by with hydrogen carrier.

When neon is cheaper than helium maybe someone will publish a comparison.

If someone out there has the money I have the time.

best wishes,

Rod

[CE Instruments]

Yes we can supply catalogues etc. As PM communication is impossible visit our web site www.ceinstruments.co.uk and fill in the enquiry form. UK only , Sorry folks
Richard