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For large-scale use, helium is extracted by fractional distillation from natural gas, which can contain as much as 7% helium. [148] Since helium has a lower boiling point than any other element, low temperatures and high pressure are used to liquefy nearly all the other gases (mostly nitrogen and methane ).
All commercial production of helium comes from natural gas.There are two basic types of commercial helium deposits: natural gas produced primarily for the hydrocarbon content, typically containing less than 3 percent helium; and gas with little or no hydrocarbons, produced solely for the helium, which typically makes up between 5 and 10 percent of the gas.
A gas regulator attached to a nitrogen cylinder. Industrial gases are the gaseous materials that are manufactured for use in industry.The principal gases provided are nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon, hydrogen, helium and acetylene, although many other gases and mixtures are also available in gas cylinders.
Helium also has a very low boiling point (-268.9°C or -452°F), allowing it to remain a gas even in super-cold environments, an important feature because many rocket fuels are stored in that ...
Methane (density 0.716 g/L at STP, average molecular mass 16.04 g/mol), the main component of natural gas, is sometimes used as a lift gas when hydrogen and helium are not available. [citation needed] It has the advantage of not leaking through balloon walls as rapidly as the smaller molecules of hydrogen and helium. Many lighter-than-air ...
For large-scale use, helium is extracted by fractional distillation from natural gas, which can contain up to 7% helium. [80] Neon, argon, krypton, and xenon are obtained from air using the methods of liquefaction of gases, to convert elements to a liquid state, and fractional distillation, to separate mixtures into component parts.
The first large-scale liquefaction of natural gas in the U.S. was in 1918 when the U.S. government liquefied natural gas as a way to extract helium, which is a small component of some natural gas. This helium was intended for use in British dirigibles for World War I.
The National Helium Reserve, also known as the Federal Helium Reserve, is a strategic reserve of the United States, which once held over 1 billion cubic meters (about 170,000,000 kg) [a] of helium gas. The helium is stored at the Cliffside Storage Facility about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Amarillo, Texas, in a natural geologic gas storage ...