The U. of I. department of physics has invested $600,000 in air compressors, increased gas storage capacity, an underground transportation pipeline and a remote helium collection bladder to increase the amount of helium gas collected and recycled on the Urbana campus.
Helium's primary application on campus is as a coolant for superconducting magnets, which carry a stable electrical current that scientists use to investigate the molecular structure of anything from pigments and building materials to pharmaceutical compounds and food flavors.
"It became apparent in the summer of 2013 that we needed to take control of our helium destiny," said Eric Thorsland, a senior research engineer in the department of physics. "Our gas supply that we use to make liquid helium in Loomis Lab was cut off that summer."
That year, the department had the money it needed to make the purchase, but availability was an issue, he said.
Today, more than 50 percent of the helium used on campus is recaptured from Loomis Lab, the Materials Research Lab, the Superconductivity Center and the Engineering Science Building. The department of chemistry had previously not recycled helium, primarily because of its physical separation of several blocks from Loomis. But during the recent winter break, a pipeline was drilled underground from the basement of the Chemical and Life Sciences Laboratory A Building to the basement of Loomis - a tricky operation accomplished with engineering and help from Facilities and Services.
Soon, individual tubes will connect the exhaust from more than a dozen magnets in Noyes Lab, Roger Adams Lab and Chemical and Life Sciences Lab to a large bladder in the basement of Chemical and Life Sciences Lab. As this bag fills with captured helium, a fan will blow the gas through the underground pipe to the physics liquid helium facility in Loomis. Once there, the helium will be pressurized and stored in tanks to await reliquification and redistribution to superconducting magnets around campus.
At peak efficiency, the improved and expanded recycling system should capture as much as 95 percent of campus helium, said Jerry Cook, facilities manager for the department of physics. And that means significant savings for researchers.
Today, Cook sells liquid helium to researchers for about $15 per liter. When the new system achieves 90 percent efficiency, the price will drop to less than $9 per liter, saving campus users more than $211,000 annually. Prices could go even lower (approaching $5 per liter, depending on market fluctuations) after the new infrastructure sees full return on the department's $600,000 investment, which is anticipated to happen in two to three years.
For more information, go to the website for the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment.