Safriz
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Helium is an inert gas which has many uses.From Party Balloons to Airships and Nuclear reactor cooling.The gas is almost impossible to extract from Atmosphere and is most commonly separated from Natural gas as Bi-Product.
USA stores Helium in underground Natural Gas caverns,which are emptied gas fields.This method of storage is simple and cheap compared to man made arrangements.
The conditions required for occurrence of Helium are that Uranium or some other Radioactive mineral should be naturally buried deep within a large Natural gas field.
Over Milena the radioactivity from Uranium will convert Natural Gas into Helium by a process called Alpha decay.
So far USA has the world's largest reserves of Helium,followed by other Natural gas producing countries Algeria and now Qatar taking lead in Helium production.
The separation of helium involved Cooling natural gas to a temperature where only helium remains unfrozen,and the extracting Helium by Fractional distillation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not every Gas field can have feasible amounts of Helium.
Helium is a commodity which cannot be recycled.Once released to air,it cannot be recovered.
This simple fact makes many scientists around the world worry that the world may soon run out of Helium and many have called for a ban on Public use of Helium,such as in Party Balloons.
With the Passage of time the price of Helium is set to rise as the gas as demand will rise and production may lag behind.
Some uses of Helium.
filling party balloons – it’s a safe, non-flammable gas
creation of an inert gas shield for arc welding
high speed ‘push gas’ inside air-to-air missiles for guidance corrections
protective gas in growing silicon and germanium crystals, and in titanium and zirconium production
cooling medium for nuclear reactors; helium won't become radioactive
artificial atmospheres for divers and others working under pressure (mixtures of about 80 percent helium and 20 percent oxygen)
cryogenics and superconductivity
use in supersonic wind tunnels
pressurizing agent for liquid fuel rockets (inert so it won't react)
leak detection agent for extremely small leaks
isotopic dating by helium ratios (seawater, ocean beds, etc.)
helium cardiopulmonary resuscitation pump (heart surgery)
helium filled border patrol "AEROSTAT" monitoring blimps
Research is underway to Bring back Blimps as mode of cargo transport and aerial surveillance for defense use.Once these uses of Helium are in vogue,the demand will sky rocket and Helium may even become a controlled commodity same as Uranium,as countries my want to give themselves the edge by barring their Helium reserves from other nations.
There are certain factors which vary from Country to country.The minimum concentration of Helium in a gas Mixture should be 0.3% or above for being economically feasible for cryogenic extraction.
Countries which export natural gas on Ships have to cool down their natural gas for pumping into Gas tankers and the residual non liquified gases are then used for Helium Extraction.
Such countries don't have to Cool down Natural Gas for the "sole purpose" of Helium Extraction,making even lower concentrations of Helium as economically feasible.
For a country Like Pakistan which does not Export natural Gas on Ships and pumps natural Gas into national Grid as gas without Liquification or any need of it,any efforts to Extract Helium will have to Bear extra costs of Cooling down the natural gas for the "Sole purpose" of helium extraction and for that reason much higher concentrations of helium will be needed.
It not unheard of natural Gas field to have Helium in 7% or higher concentrations.
Pakistan's main source of Natural Gas,the 'Sui gas" is about 90% methane,leaving little chance of higher concentrations of Noble gases including Helium.Although i couldn't come across any such study in which the exact composition of Sui gas was mentioned and feasibility of Helium extraction was explored.
Its happening in India though.They are extracting Helium from lower than required concentrations from their gas fields.They use Pressure swing adsorption Techniques which helps in lowering the costs.May be Pakistan can follow suit?
But Shale gas fields in other parts of the country may have much higher concentrations of Helium,making them economically reliable sources of Helium extraction.
My Question that,does Pakistani Natural Gas reserves have sufficient amounts of Helium?
Being a country rich in Natural gas reserves,shouldn't Pakistan be looking into "Helium Mining"?
USA stores Helium in underground Natural Gas caverns,which are emptied gas fields.This method of storage is simple and cheap compared to man made arrangements.
The conditions required for occurrence of Helium are that Uranium or some other Radioactive mineral should be naturally buried deep within a large Natural gas field.
Over Milena the radioactivity from Uranium will convert Natural Gas into Helium by a process called Alpha decay.
So far USA has the world's largest reserves of Helium,followed by other Natural gas producing countries Algeria and now Qatar taking lead in Helium production.
The separation of helium involved Cooling natural gas to a temperature where only helium remains unfrozen,and the extracting Helium by Fractional distillation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not every Gas field can have feasible amounts of Helium.
Helium is a commodity which cannot be recycled.Once released to air,it cannot be recovered.
This simple fact makes many scientists around the world worry that the world may soon run out of Helium and many have called for a ban on Public use of Helium,such as in Party Balloons.
With the Passage of time the price of Helium is set to rise as the gas as demand will rise and production may lag behind.
Some uses of Helium.
filling party balloons – it’s a safe, non-flammable gas
creation of an inert gas shield for arc welding
high speed ‘push gas’ inside air-to-air missiles for guidance corrections
protective gas in growing silicon and germanium crystals, and in titanium and zirconium production
cooling medium for nuclear reactors; helium won't become radioactive
artificial atmospheres for divers and others working under pressure (mixtures of about 80 percent helium and 20 percent oxygen)
cryogenics and superconductivity
use in supersonic wind tunnels
pressurizing agent for liquid fuel rockets (inert so it won't react)
leak detection agent for extremely small leaks
isotopic dating by helium ratios (seawater, ocean beds, etc.)
helium cardiopulmonary resuscitation pump (heart surgery)
helium filled border patrol "AEROSTAT" monitoring blimps
Research is underway to Bring back Blimps as mode of cargo transport and aerial surveillance for defense use.Once these uses of Helium are in vogue,the demand will sky rocket and Helium may even become a controlled commodity same as Uranium,as countries my want to give themselves the edge by barring their Helium reserves from other nations.
There are certain factors which vary from Country to country.The minimum concentration of Helium in a gas Mixture should be 0.3% or above for being economically feasible for cryogenic extraction.
Countries which export natural gas on Ships have to cool down their natural gas for pumping into Gas tankers and the residual non liquified gases are then used for Helium Extraction.
Such countries don't have to Cool down Natural Gas for the "sole purpose" of Helium Extraction,making even lower concentrations of Helium as economically feasible.
For a country Like Pakistan which does not Export natural Gas on Ships and pumps natural Gas into national Grid as gas without Liquification or any need of it,any efforts to Extract Helium will have to Bear extra costs of Cooling down the natural gas for the "Sole purpose" of helium extraction and for that reason much higher concentrations of helium will be needed.
It not unheard of natural Gas field to have Helium in 7% or higher concentrations.
Pakistan's main source of Natural Gas,the 'Sui gas" is about 90% methane,leaving little chance of higher concentrations of Noble gases including Helium.Although i couldn't come across any such study in which the exact composition of Sui gas was mentioned and feasibility of Helium extraction was explored.
Its happening in India though.They are extracting Helium from lower than required concentrations from their gas fields.They use Pressure swing adsorption Techniques which helps in lowering the costs.May be Pakistan can follow suit?
But Shale gas fields in other parts of the country may have much higher concentrations of Helium,making them economically reliable sources of Helium extraction.
My Question that,does Pakistani Natural Gas reserves have sufficient amounts of Helium?
Being a country rich in Natural gas reserves,shouldn't Pakistan be looking into "Helium Mining"?
