Scope of application of gas purification equipment

Helium is mainly used in medical, military, refrigeration, semiconductors, pipeline leakage, high-precision welding, metal manufacturing, deep-sea diving, photoelectronics production, balloon carrying, scientific research, military and other fields. The users of helium resources are analyzed below in conjunction with the main applications of helium.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (cryogenic superconductivity)

Nuclear magnetic resonance (MRI), which uses cryogenic superconducting magnet to cool down liquid helium, accounts for 34% of the global helium consumption. Although the demand for nuclear magnetic resonance imagers is declining in the developed world, the demand for liquid helium is still growing strongly in the developing world.

(2) Refrigeration (Home Appliance) Area

Helium is mainly used for leakage in condensers, evaporators, and piping systems.

(3) Semiconductors and fiber optics

Helium is mainly used as a protective gas for the growth of germanium and silicon crystals in the semiconductor industry, as a cooling and protective atmospheric gas in fiber prefabrication and fiber yarn processes.

Custom nitrogen purification equipment

(4) Welding protection gas

Use: When some metals are heated or melted, in order to prevent their reaction with oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere, an inert atmosphere must be protected. A large amount of helium is consumed in metal welding. In inert gas tungsten electric arc welding (TIG), unmelted tungsten, hot metal fillers, and weld areas are protected by a continuous helium or helium-argon mixture. The mixture of gases used to protect welding can be prepared in different proportions using helium and argon. The composition of the mixture can vary depending on the welding process, the solder wire and the mother material to be soldered, usually between 15% and 70% helium content in the helium-argon mixture.

(5) The field of cryogenic engineering

Uses: Because of helium's chemical inertness and extremely low liquefaction point, it is close to ideal gas behavior at all temperatures except extremely low temperatures. Because of its high heat capacity per unit mass, low viscosity and high heat conduction coefficient, helium is usually used as the working medium of the closed cycle cryogenic refrigerator, the cooling medium of the cryogenic superconducting magnet and superconducting cavity in the national major scientific project, and the scientific research experiment in universities and colleges.

(6) Aerospace

Uses: In rocket and spacecraft fuel systems, helium is used to clean cryogenic fuel and oxidation tanks. As well as the upper liquid surface space of pressurized cryogenic tanks to provide pressure for the direct delivery of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen or to provide only positive net aspiration pressure for infusion pumps, helium is often used as a working medium in pneumatic control systems. Prior to the launch of the rocket, in order to obtain large propulsion efficiency in the first few minutes of ignition, cryogenic helium has been used to pre-cool the upper stage liquid hydrogen rocket engine. Liquid helium is also widely used in cryogenic radiation detectors as well as for other specialized instrumentation in space exploration programmes.

(7) Balloon carriers (hovercraft)

Use: To fill airplanes, airships, balloons, etc. for civilian or military purposes.

(8) The field of automotive manufacturing

Application: Helium is used in airbag, leak detection of aluminum alloy wheel, leak detection of evaporator, compressor and condenser of air conditioner, and helium is used in laser beam welding of automobile frame.

(9) Other areas

Physiology and medicine, nuclear reactors, electricity and light sources, metallurgy and metalworking processes, analytical test carriers, etc. This part of the gas is generally not recycled.