Operational Costs of He3 Separation Using the Superfluidity of He4

Jakub Niechciał, Piotr Banat, Wojciech Kempiński, Zbigniew Trybuła, Maciej Chorowski, Jarosław Poliński, Katarzyna Chołast and Andrzej Kociemba
Additional contact information
Jakub Niechciał: Institute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Smoluchowskiego 17, 60-179 Poznań, Poland
Piotr Banat: Institute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Smoluchowskiego 17, 60-179 Poznań, Poland
Wojciech Kempiński: Institute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Smoluchowskiego 17, 60-179 Poznań, Poland
Zbigniew Trybuła: Institute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Smoluchowskiego 17, 60-179 Poznań, Poland
Maciej Chorowski: Department of Cryogenic, Aeronautical and Process Engineering, Wrocław University of Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-560 Wrocław, Poland
Jarosław Poliński: Department of Cryogenic, Aeronautical and Process Engineering, Wrocław University of Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-560 Wrocław, Poland
Katarzyna Chołast: Polish Oil and Gas Company—Odolanów, Krotoszyńska 148, 63-430 Odolanów, Poland
Andrzej Kociemba: Polish Oil and Gas Company—Odolanów, Krotoszyńska 148, 63-430 Odolanów, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-11

Abstract: Helium is the second most abundant element in the Universe after hydrogen. Considerable resources of helium-3 isotope (He3) are located mostly outside the Earth. He3 is very important for science and industry, especially for airport neutron detectors, lung tomography and helium dilution refrigerators. Besides, global warming is forcing the industry and governments to search for alternative energy sources, and He3 has the potential to be used as fuel in future nuclear fusion power plants. Unfortunately, the price of gaseous He3 has recently increased from $200 per liter to over $2750. The expected further increase in price and demands led us to present an analysis of the economic profitability for He3 separation process, which utilizes the properties of superfluid helium. This paper shows the arguments supporting the idea that extraction from natural sources is the only economically viable way of obtaining He3 isotope nowadays. The method could be relatively easily implemented into the production cycles of the low temperature natural gas purification plant.

Keywords: He3 isotope; heat exchanger; separator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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