The article starts with a discussion about helium, its significance, uses, and the current shortage. It then moves forward to discuss a newly proposed model to tap into helium reserves. This is followed by an in-depth look at helium, including its discovery, sources, extraction, reserves, and production. The article concludes with the potential implications of the helium shortage.
The Genesis of Helium
Helium, a noble gas known for its stability and unreactivity, has the lowest boiling and melting points of any element. French astronomer Jules Janssen and English astronomer Joseph Norman Lockyer discovered helium in 1868 during a solar eclipse. Its name derives from the Greek word “helios,” meaning sun.
Sources and Production of Helium
Despite being the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen, helium is relatively rare on Earth. It is mainly produced by the decay of radioactive elements in the Earth’s crust, with natural gas being its primary source. Cryogenic distillation is used to extract helium from natural gas. As of 2022, the United States, Algeria, and Russia have the largest reserves of helium globally. India’s Rajmahal volcanic basin in Jharkhand has been storing helium for billions of years.
Wide-Ranging Uses and Growing Shortage of Helium
Helium is extensively used in balloons and airships due to its lightness. It also has numerous industrial applications, including welding, cooling, and as a protective gas in the production of semiconductors and fiber optic cables. In healthcare, it’s used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a cooling agent for superconducting magnets, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and as a carrier gas in gas chromatography. Despite its widespread usage, there is a growing shortage of helium owing to various factors like the closure of some helium plants, increasing demand from emerging economies, and a lack of new sources.
Proposed Model to Tackle Helium Shortage
Researchers have proposed a new model to mitigate helium shortage by tapping into its reserves that likely exist in geological formations beneath the Earth. This gas can be produced and stored in crystalline basement rocks, dense rocks extending from the mantle to the near-surface. These rocks, typically 30-40 kilometers thick, contain uranium and thorium that decay to form helium naturally over millions or even billions of years. An interesting aspect of this model is that the energy generated from the radioactive decay could split water to form hydrogen, thereby also serving as a potential source of hydrogen.