Arizona State University – Helium Recovery Project
The Helium Recovery Project at the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 1 in Tempe, Arizona at ASU involved the installation of a helium recovery system intended to capture helium off-gas from the facility’s seven (7) NMR spectrometers (magnets) so that it may be recovered and reused in the process. As a finite resource, helium comes at a considerable expense, and recovery is key to preserving this non-renewable element. The lab utilizes helium for its ability to cool the super-conducting magnets to extremely low temperatures necessary to provide ultimate conductivity. This project allows the lab to collect, purify, and re-liquify the helium for reuse.
This project included the design of the following items:
- A new helium collection system within the existing NMR lab; consisting of collection manifolds, collection header pipe, and a helium collection bag on a ceiling-hung support structure.
- A new helium purification plant that prepares the used helium for reuse.
- A new purified helium storage rack of tanks.
- CATEGORY Academic , Commercial