Air Products Presents solutions to face up to the possible shortage in the supply of helium
8 February 2013
Air Products, company matrix of the Spanish Metallic Carbides, is one of the main refinadores of helium in United States and provider of reference to world-wide level. The intervention of Walter Nelson has given answer to the numerous questions arisen recently on the possible shortage of helium. The manager of Air Products in this field has centred his speech in the main appearances of the business of the helium, as his sources of origin, uses, demand of the market, availability and distribution, supply, conservation and efforts of recycling. Likewise, Nelson has presented the key actions that have to llevar to keep and increase the supply of present helium and future.
The importance to have available sources of helium to satisfy the needs of the society do patents because of the multiple uses of this gas.
In reply to the increasing worry in the market of the helium, Nelson has affirmed that the current situation of shortage of helium has to mainly to the existent limits in the sources of natural gas and in the production of natural gas liquefied, as well as to the interruptions realised to world-wide level in distinct plants of production. The reality is that they do not exist subterranean reservations of pure helium since this is a by-product of the production of natural gas.
The current shortage that lives the market of the helium does not have precedents. By this reason are fundamental the investments in the energetic sector that allow to develop and use new technicians to recover the helium that finds in the processes where uses natural gas”, affirmed Walter Nelson. “No all the fields of the natural gas are equal. Like this, part of the decrease in the production of helium is due to that the efforts employed by the companies to obtain natural gas centre in the own natural gas, rich in liquids, in place to do it in “dry gases”, that are used to to contain more helium.”
A key factor that has an imminent impact in the supply of helium is the legislation that is valuing at present the Congress of the United States, and that is related with the reservations of helium of the National Office of Gestión of Earths (BLM). This supplies at present 30% of the global demand of this gas. “The American legislators need to approve the before possible these laws to be able to expand the actions of the National Office of Gestión of Earths and guarantee like this the availability of this important source of supply. If, by the contrary, does not approve this legislation and the BLM renews his authority to follow managing the federal reservations, all the existent helium in the reservation will remain inaccessible.” In words of Nelson, “the impact in the United States and in the whole world, in terms of availability of helium, will be chaotic. A legislation renewed or new that concede to the BLM the corresponding authority to follow supplying helium would allow to have the period of necessary time to find the new plants of production of natural gas and helium announced.”
The new sources of helium to which has referred Nelson include: new installations to supply natural gas to the plant of existent helium in the State of Wyoming, and of which Air Products is proprietary; a project of natural gas liquefied and of helium in Qatar, and a new plant of production of helium and natural gas liquefied in Algeria. It expects that all these projects are operative along 2013. “Only after these new sources of helium are operative and that the existent plants recover his usual levels of production, the world-wide supply of helium will begin to stabilise entirely. By this reason is fundamental for a lot of sectors that the legislation of the United States allow to the BLM continue supplying helium”, said Nelson.
Nelson also has detailed the steps that have to follow so much the manufacturers like the final users to contribute to the conservation of the helium in the points of use, to the time that has encouraged them to realise the necessary investments to recover and recycle helium where was possible.
“If we realise all these actions, and all they are affordable, would have to have reservations of sufficient helium to cover during the next years the demand so much of final users as of manufacturers”, concluded Ne
