Where Helium Comes From
In short: Helium cannot be manufactured with today's technology, so it is extracted from helium-bearing natural-gas reservoirs and separated mainly by cryogenic distillation, which leaves a finite and fragile supply.
A 2:20 short film in the series “How Things Work”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.
Sources used in this film: U.S. Geological Survey, “National assessment of helium resources within known natural gas reservoirs”; Bureau of Land Management (U.S. Department of the Interior), “Programs: Energy and Minerals: Helium | Bureau of Land Management”; Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), “Helium - Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table”; U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Isotope Tracers Project, “USGS -- Isotope Tracers -- Resources”; BBC (BBC Future), “The world keeps running out of helium. There's now a race to prepare for the next shortage”; Springer Nature (Discover Applied Sciences, peer-reviewed journal article), “A hybrid MCDM framework for sustainability assessment of helium extraction from natural gas: a real case study - Discover Applied Sciences”; Frontiers (Frontiers in Membrane Science and Technology, peer-reviewed review article), “Frontiers | Advances in membrane-based helium recovery from natural gas: materials, process integration, and techno-economic perspectives”.
Sources used in this film
- U.S. Geological Survey — National assessment of helium resources within known natural gas reservoirs · View →
- Bureau of Land Management (U.S. Department of the Interior) — Programs: Energy and Minerals: Helium | Bureau of Land Management · View →
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) — Helium - Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table · View →
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Isotope Tracers Project — USGS -- Isotope Tracers -- Resources · View →
- BBC (BBC Future) — The world keeps running out of helium. There's now a race to prepare for the next shortage · View →
- Springer Nature (Discover Applied Sciences, peer-reviewed journal article) — A hybrid MCDM framework for sustainability assessment of helium extraction from natural gas: a real case study - Discover Applied Sciences · View →
- Frontiers (Frontiers in Membrane Science and Technology, peer-reviewed review article) — Frontiers | Advances in membrane-based helium recovery from natural gas: materials, process integration, and techno-economic perspectives · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: U.S. Geological Survey: National assessment of helium resources within known natural gas reservoirs
- Also: Bureau of Land Management (U.S. Department of the Interior): Programs: Energy and Minerals: Helium | Bureau of Land Management
- Also: periodic-table.rsc.org — Helium - Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table
- Also: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Isotope Tracers Project: USGS -- Isotope Tracers -- Resources
- Also: BBC (BBC Future): The world keeps running out of helium. There's now a race to prepare for the next shortage
- Also: Springer Nature (Discover Applied Sciences, peer-reviewed journal article): A hybrid MCDM framework for sustainability assessment of helium extraction from natural gas: a real case study - Discover Applied Sciences
- Also: Frontiers (Frontiers in Membrane Science and Technology, peer-reviewed review article): Frontiers | Advances in membrane-based helium recovery from natural gas: materials, process integration, and techno-economic perspectives
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