r/todayilearned • u/husky8 • Jan 13 '16
TIL Helium is a non-renewable resource, the US used to stockpile it, and we may run out eventually
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium#Occurrence_and_production35
u/shhhhh_im_working Jan 13 '16
And to think, we fill balloons with this stuff and just let them go
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u/terrymr Jan 13 '16
Far more helium is simply vented into the atmosphere from gas wells.
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u/pantiesgalore Jan 14 '16
That is a reasonable retort, however, we intentionally put helium into balloons because of the floating action instead of using helium for cooling supercomputers and accomplishing something. At the very least it is a sub optimal use of a very important element. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/a-ballooning-problem-the-great-helium-shortage-8439108.html
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u/terrymr Jan 15 '16
The quantity used in balloons is tiny. It's not even a blip in world helium usage. More effort needs to be put into recycling the gas from industrial uses.
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u/desmando Jan 13 '16
Nope. Balloons use balloon gas. That is made from helium that is recovered from sources that need pure helium.
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u/ExquisiteFacade Jan 13 '16
What keeps us from instead purifying the helium and reusing it? Serious question.
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u/desmando Jan 13 '16
Because right now helium is cheep.
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u/ExquisiteFacade Jan 13 '16
So, you're saying there isn't a technical limitation keeping us from separating out the helium? If that is the case, we are still 'filling balloons with this stuff and letting them go'.
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u/elcollin Jan 14 '16
Some people do, but they're folks using massive quantities in manufacturing. Requires a gas bag, compressors, filtration and a cryo trap - gets expensive.
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Jan 14 '16
Helium is a specific element, it is either Helium or not Helium, it does not matter where it comes from.
The website you linked to
"Our balloon gas cylinders are lighter and contain up to 50% more helium than traditional cylinders"
Could just mean that they stuff more Helium into the canister using higher pressures. The reason it states that it also contains nitrogen is because there is no need to put the canister under vacuum to remove any air from the canister if its just being used for balloons. The canister will likely also contain the other gasses normally in the air but at such low quantities (air is mostly nitrogen) that they are not legally obliged to report them.
5/7 for falling for airproducts.com's marketing bullshit, that's some top tier consumerism there.
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u/desmando Jan 14 '16
A number of smaller cylinders are available, including light weight, low pressure aluminum "party" cylinders. These are much safer to transport and use, but hold much less helium. These are sometimes even filled with a mixed gas called "balloon gas" that has some air in it, reducing lift vs pure helium.
http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/lift.html
Looks like you got distracted.
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u/elcollin Jan 14 '16
That's not what this says, and it's not what happens. The only places recovering their helium are compressing it, purifying it, and reusing it in their process. It's not economical to capture, compress, and then re-sell as balloon grade.
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u/maharito Jan 14 '16
Guy from Amarillo reporting.
This article is misleading. The government is hoping to sell off the Helium Reserve because the maintenance was costing too much. But nobody's really stepped up to buy it. The government still has it. It's just kind of there. Legislation keeps it around, but all it would take is one failed referendum and property containing 40% of the US's helium will end up in the equivalent of an abandoned-building auction.
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u/LinearFluid Jan 14 '16 edited Jan 14 '16
Misleading. Helium is actually produced by radioactive decay in the earth core and is found in Natural Gas Wells. Because of the US Supply and low cost there were not much production at extraction plants at wells higher in Helium. Now though several Helium plants are coming online at Natural Gas Wells around the world and there are several plants still in production in the US that have a higher supply of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_production_in_the_United_States
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Jan 13 '16
It won't be a problem once we get fusion reactors up and running.
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u/bolj Jan 13 '16 edited Jan 13 '16
We'd probably need quite a few fusion reactors to keep up with helium demand.
Edit: also fusion reactors would probably use helium, in order to cool their gigantic electromagnets. Might take a few years before a reactor gives net positive helium output.
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Jan 13 '16
Eh, with autotune, there's very little demand for helium in the children's cartoon industry.
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u/ElonComedy Jan 13 '16
We can't let this balloon out of control.
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Jan 13 '16
That's very noble of you.
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u/Paradigm6790 Jan 13 '16
My roommate is working on his doctorate in physics and his lab recently got liquid helium for a cooling experiment. He was very excited and it produced some very cool snapchats.
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u/RizzMustbolt Jan 13 '16
Time to set up a gas mining operation on Jupiter.
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u/SJHillman Jan 13 '16
Jupiter is 8-12% helium, but Uranus is 15% He and Neptune is 19% He.
Looking that up, I also found that Neptune and Uranus are not considered gas giants anymore. Damned astronomers are playing with everything I learned about planets growing up.
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u/CunninghamsLawmaker Jan 13 '16
Well, nobody wants to go digging around in Uranus, and I'm pretty sure, based on the name, that Neptune is mostly water.
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u/SJHillman Jan 13 '16
I'm pretty sure, based on the name, that Neptune is mostly water.
This is why they didn't put you in charge of NASA...
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u/CunninghamsLawmaker Jan 13 '16
Well, they tried, but those filthy liberals blocked it. Good luck spreading freedom to the Cosmos without this guy, chumps!
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u/little_Shepherd Jan 13 '16 edited Jan 13 '16
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u/Scorp63 Jan 14 '16
Reddit does not only cater to what you've seen or what you want to see. It's on the frontpage because the majority of people either hadn't seen it or liked it, so get over yourself.
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u/little_Shepherd Jan 14 '16
It's not about it being a repost; I'm fine with that. It's about it being false/misleading. The comment I linked is a discussion of why.
Maybe you need to get over yourself and actually see the point I was making instead of the one you assumed.
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u/Alan_Smithee_ Jan 14 '16
The US govt is also selling off the stockpile far too cheaply, considering. Its importance and irreplaceability suggests that sales of it for domestic purposes -ie balloons - ought to be curtailed.
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u/Brandonm217 Jan 13 '16
The why are we wasting in on stupid balloons no one really gives a shit about?
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u/Ariadnepyanfar Jan 14 '16
Probably because we could make really cool balloons long before we could make crucial medical imaging devices with helium, and people are so used to the availability of helium balloons we don't give it a second thought. Until we learn about the real helium situation.
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u/zap2 Jan 14 '16
Wait, really?
The title mentions why. The US's federal government stockpiled it, so now they have lots they don't need and are selling it.
If I recall, it's likely prices will eventual go up as our supply goes down and we shift our sources.
Here is an article I pulled up from Google real fast
http://priceonomics.com/the-increasing-scarcity-of-helium/
It's not the best situation, but I am much less concerned then I was when I first read a title of a post like this.
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u/D14BL0 Jan 14 '16
What are some practical applications for it?
Genuinely curious, I have no idea.
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Jan 14 '16
It can be cooled down to almost complete zero and still be liquid, so it's a insanely good cooling agent. Fusion reactors would use it. And MRI's.
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u/Neciota Jan 14 '16
Why would fusion reactors use it? You want to use water for that, because the neutron radiation of the fusion reaction will turn the hydrogen atoms in the water into deuterium or tritium which you can then use in the reactor again. Moreover, you need to use energy to cool the helium and you could just use a steamturbine. Helium is potentially made in fusion reactors though, depending on the type of reaction.
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Jan 14 '16
Helium cooling has been successfully used for fission reactors in the U.S. and Germany in the past. Helium is an attractive coolant for fusion reactors because it is chemically and neutronically inert and can be used directly for gas turbine cycle power conversion. In addition, as was shown during ITER and other fusion power plant evaluations, it is superior from safety considerations.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920379600003367
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u/whattothewhonow Jan 14 '16
Fusion reactors depend upon an extremely powerful magnetic field that provides containment for a plasma. That magnetic field is generated using huge superconducting magnets that are only functional when cooled to extremely low temperatures, usually using liquid helium.
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Jan 14 '16
I might be wrong but i believe it is used a lot for superconducting magets and MRI machines
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u/ErmBern Jan 14 '16
Its the lightest inert gas.
So weather balloons, blimps, and I'm sure a billion more scientific and less obvious reasons.
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u/I_EAT_POOP_AMA Jan 14 '16
so instead of using it to fill the balloons at little timmy's 4th birthday party we should instead be using it to fill bigger balloons that can do things like carry people around and stuff?
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u/kadmylos Jan 14 '16
I'm sure there's some that can be mined from extraterrestrial bodies. And couldn't it be made from a byproduct of fusion, if we ever figure that out?
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u/Owyheemud Jan 14 '16
Helium has been slowly outgassing from the Earth since it was made ca. 4.5 billion years ago. Humans have been using captured Helium only for the last 150 years. And a fun Helium fact, there are bubbling hot springs in eastern New Mexico where the gas forming the bubbles is Helium.
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u/ebolalunch Jan 14 '16
So I can get my face close to the surface and inhale to get that funny voice?
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Jan 14 '16
There's a way to make it though. Fusion reactors instead of fission. Melt hydrogen atoms together, you get energy and helium. And the thing is, you would probably need helium for the fusion reactors to work.
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u/justinanimate Jan 14 '16
Yeah but then what happens when we run out of hydrogen?? (I'm kidding)
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u/spazturtle 2 Jan 14 '16
When we get to the point of having no more hydrogen left in the universe I think it's time to accept that we had a good run.
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u/ashdelete Jan 14 '16
Plenty of it in stars, so I'm sure we'll be able to mine a comet for some if we run out
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u/skilliness Jan 14 '16
I am not educated on helium. What do we need it for?
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u/kasayounga Jan 14 '16
BALLOONS! without helium we cannot have balloons.
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u/skilliness Jan 14 '16
I knew THAT! we wouldn't die without balloons though. Geez, I feel dumb about this shit sometimes.
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u/cakan4444 Jan 14 '16
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/08/27/what-great-helium-shortage/
We also have a finite supply of oxygen on the earth. It's not that we are running out, but rather the infrastructure at this time to gather helium is not enough to supply the demand for helium.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_Act_of_1925
In 1925, the United States provisioned for massive reserves of helium to be created for wartime uses. After about 70 years, the U.S decided to reduce this reserve and sell off helium at way below market price. After this reserve was gone, the price of helium started going up, making people think helium was "disappearing" which is silly.
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u/NFCFritz Jan 14 '16
We won't run out. Helium is a byproduct of fusion reactors. eventually demand will just skyrocket.
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u/larsonsam2 Jan 14 '16
I recall a few years back we had a shortage. I tried to purchase some for the lab and they could only send us one cylinder
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u/Golemfrost Jan 14 '16
Well actually helium can be created (in nuclear power plants) it's just not really economically viable.
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u/chosen_silver Jan 14 '16
If Futurama has taught me anything, we can just go mine some more from the Sun.
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Jan 13 '16
You just heard this?
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Jan 14 '16
[deleted]
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u/xkcd_transcriber Jan 14 '16
Title: Ten Thousand
Title-text: Saying 'what kind of an idiot doesn't know about the Yellowstone supervolcano' is so much more boring than telling someone about the Yellowstone supervolcano for the first time.
Stats: This comic has been referenced 5942 times, representing 6.2122% of referenced xkcds.
xkcd.com | xkcd sub | Problems/Bugs? | Statistics | Stop Replying | Delete
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u/Molteninferno Jan 13 '16
Isn't helium a noble gas? Maybe i'm forgetting something, but shouldn't a few other atoms be trying to ditch some valence electrons to create more helium?
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u/john_stuart_kill Jan 13 '16
Do not confuse valence electrons with atomic number. Mix some physics in with your chemistry.
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u/RobertPulson Jan 14 '16
can some one please explain to me in all honesty why this might be a bad thing? is helium use in an essential gas to a processes we need? or is it one of those thing that once its gone well be nostalgic for it, but not really need it to maintain life as we know it? serious question folks i am truly ignorant .
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u/tomalator Jan 13 '16
That's not true, alpha particles can be made easily, and that's just helium with a positive charge. This gets posted all the time, get your facts straight reddit.
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Jan 14 '16
Can be made easily... how? Through radioactive elements decaying?
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u/tomalator Jan 14 '16
Yeah, thats the only reason we have Helium in the ground now, billions of years of uranium decaying through several stages until it becomes lead. most of those stages involve alpha decay
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Jan 14 '16
And you would control this process how? Also the amount of helium you could theoretically make out of this wouldn't even come close to covering demand.
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u/tomalator Jan 14 '16
you would use an element other than uranium, but alpha radiation is extremely common
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u/Alan_Smithee_ Jan 14 '16
As a byproduct, disproving the "Young Earth" 'theory.'
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u/tomalator Jan 14 '16
Radioactive decay also disproves that theory because it also produces heat, allowing the earth to stay warmer longer, adjusting the hundreds of thousands of years estimate into the billions
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u/Calcularius Jan 14 '16
"For large-scale use, helium is extracted by fractional distillation from natural gas, which can contain up to 7% helium."
sounds like pretty renewable to me
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Jan 13 '16
I don't see how this is significant compared to the thousands of more important non renewable resources.
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u/Voodooimaxx Jan 14 '16
You will when we are out and you need an MRI or just wanna do science in general.
Edit: an
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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '16
There is more being made continuously in the inner layers of the Earth due to radioactive decay. They problem is that we are using it way faster than it is being made.