Name the main commercial source of Helium? (2024)

FAQs

Name the main commercial source of Helium? ›

The main commercial source of helium is known as natural gas, which contains an average of. Helium.

Therefore, the main commercial source of helium is natural gas.

Where does helium come from? Helium is a non-renewable natural resource that is most commonly recovered from natural gas deposits. Geologic conditions in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas make the natural gas in these areas some of the most helium-rich in the world (with concentrations between 0.3 percent and 2.7 percent).

It is found under the Earth's crust with other natural gases. Commercial helium is extracted from natural gas when the helium concentra on is above 0.3%.

Helium Reserves and Resources

The two most important sources of helium in the United States are the Hugoton-Panhandle field complex, which is located in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, and ExxonMobil's LaBarge field, which is located in the Riley Ridge area of southwestern Wyoming.

All commercial helium is recovered from natural gas. Helium usually makes up a minuscule portion of natural gas, but can make up as much as 10 percent of natural gas in some fields. A helium content of 0.3 percent or more is considered necessary for commercial helium extraction.

The primary commercial source of helium is natural gas, which typically includes 0.4% helium.

Producing Helium from Natural Gas

The first step is extracting crude helium (which, after extraction, typically is composed of 50-70 percent by volume of helium) from the stream of natural gas. The second step involves further refining the crude helium to produce purified helium of different commercial grades.

Helium in the U.S.

Apart from being the world's main producer and one of the largest helium consumers, the U.S holds the most extensive helium reserves worldwide.

Helium-4 is by far the most plentiful of the stable isotopes: helium-4 atoms outnumber those of helium-3 about 700,000:1 in atmospheric helium and about 7,000,000:1 in certain helium-bearing minerals.

When was helium commercially available? ›

By 1949, commercial quantities of Grade A 99.95% helium were available. For many years, the United States produced more than 90% of commercially usable helium in the world, while extraction plants in Canada, Poland, Russia, and other nations produced the remainder.

Argon can be used instead of Helium and is favoured for some metals. Helium is used for many lighter-than-air applications, and Hydrogen is a possible substitute for many where the flammability of Hydrogen is not a concern.

The helium is formed during the natural radioactive decay of elements such as uranium and thorium. These heavy elements were formed before the earth but they are not stable and very slowly, they decay. One mode of decay for uranium is to emit an alpha-particle.

As helium is a non-renewable resource, the Earth is certainly running out of it. Why is the world running out of helium? Helium is the only element on the periodic table which is a non-renewable resource on Earth.

By the 1990s, Congress decided it had spent too much on the stockpile and directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to start selling it off. The agency did so at below market rates, which some say discouraged private companies from expanding their own helium operations.

Qatar currently has the world's largest helium reserves, standing at 10 billion cubic meters. However, the reserve scale does not directly correlate with extraction activity or production level. Because despite its vast reserves, Qatar has yet to fully capitalize on its helium mining potential.

The United States and Qatar are the largest helium producers worldwide.

Helium can be found in abundance all over the universe. In fact, it is the second most abundant element known to man. Because of its chemical composition, it is not possible to produce helium artificially, which is why it is extracted from natural gas wells.