Helium Gas

Helium gas is an inactive or inert gas that is not readily involved in chemical reactions. It is colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas and belongs to the elements that have low atomic weight. So it is lighter than air and can be used as party balloons and lifting gas.

Where does helium gas come from?

If we look at the natural sources of helium, we come to know that it is present in trace amounts in Earth’s atmosphere. This is because it is very light and the gravity of the earth does not have a considerable impact on it. As a result, most of the gas escapes the planet.

So the helium that we use for industrial and commercial purposes is often produced artificially. However, recent research has also shown that natural gas fields also have considerable helium quantities.

Natural gas reserves are known to contain over 7% helium by volume. In short, helium is not abundantly available. Therefore, we should handle it carefully. Moreover, it is the most useful inert gas.

Properties

Here is a quick summary of the helium gas properties.

Source: Link

What are some uses of helium gas?

Various properties of helium make it suitable for industrial and commercial purposes. Let’s have a look at some of the uses.

• Medical facilities badly need magnetic resonance imaging machines as they help them in the diagnosis of various illnesses and diseases. In these machines, helium is used as the cooling substance.

• NASA has used helium as purging gas for fuel tanks and fuel delivery systems. It helps to extinguish fires when used in these systems.

• Deepwater divers make use of helium along with other breathing gases to keep them stabilized. Moreover, they easily maintain breathing under pressure. Here the inert properties of helium play a vital role. Therefore, we should focus on the properties.

• Being an inert gas, helium protects the oxidation and reduction reactions that may occur during the welding process. So it is widely and commonly used as welding gas in industries. 

Source

Is helium a renewable resource?

It is a common misconception that helium is a renewable resource. Although elements always want to retain their stable condition, it is still a nonrenewable resource and the rate of its natural production is very low.

The only source of natural continuous production of helium is the radioactive mineral decay in Earth’s crust but still, this accumulation is in extremely small quantities. So, we do not consider it as a good resource of helium.

Helium shortages

Various industries make use of helium. So it may get short at times. For example, after World War ll, the amount of helium became considerably short, especially the one which was a lifting gas. Moreover, there was not enough helium gas to use as a coolant in nuclear weapons and refilling of rocket engines.

However, after the confirmation of its presence in natural gas fields, we expect that we can produce it whenever the world falls short of consumption. In addition, it is very important for divers. Therefore, they must use it. However, it requires proper filling of the container.

In short, it has various uses. Further, it is available only in trace amounts. Lastly, it is light gas and it also has benefits due to being lightweight. Therefore, we must handle it without wastage. In addition, we should focus on more production.

In short, there is no double opinion about this gas. It is 100% nontoxic. However, we do not require it in very large quantities. Only moderate quantities are enough. Moreover, the handling process should also be simple. Thus, we should learn to make maximum use of this gas. So we should understand its importance. Moreover, we should never waste it. Helium gas is a very important gas so it must be used carefully.

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