A nobile gas.

How may of you have been affected by this crunch on helium gas supply's.? Was at the local welding supply store and he got a call on the phone from somebody fishing looking for a cylinder of helium. Government has put the screws on it.

Make more sense to ban party balloons. It's a wonder the environmentalists haven't done that anyway since people let them go outside endangering wildlife and littering.

They are trying to stop the balloon release at the Indy 500 later this month and so far the track says they will still go on with the tradition.

Yes! It's kind of frustrating to be hiking in the wilderness of Arizona and come upon a blue balloon stuck in the bushes! Litter!

Considering the prevailing winds. . . . from Indy to AZ would mean that balloon made it around the world. One summer in AX should pretty much dry up the rubber and disintegrate it.
Besides. It's more fun to fill with a mix of Helium and Acetylene. Tie a string around it, light the string and send it aloft.
Oh gee. Did I let that out of the bag? Oops.

The real mess makers are the mylar baloons.

Not yet, but maybe I will have fewer Mylar balloons hanging from my trees in a few years. I walk up and down my road frontage picking up peoples trash at least once a month. One guy (who I will catch one day) regularly dumps his fast food refuse near my main equipment gate down the road from the house. But the most pervasive litter is balloons. They are in every fence row. Hanging from trees in the woods. Laying down in the crops. Needs to stop.

(quoted from post at 02:51:13 05/09/19) How may of you have been affected by this crunch on helium gas supply's.? Was at the local welding supply store and he got a call on the phone from somebody fishing looking for a cylinder of helium. Government has put the screws on it.

Click to expand...

The government has nothing to do with the current shortage and high prices.

The US government's involvement in helium was that it held a large strategic reserve and at different times limited the export. This was often pointed to as an example of government waste because idiots and the media thought the only reason for holding all this helium was to fill airships that were obsolete by the 1950s. In fact the main reason for holding all the helium in reserve was for it's many other millitary, space exploration, and industrial uses. In many industrial uses, helium has no known substitute. Since we held most of the world's helium supply, we could limit the Soviet's ability to use it for millitary hardware production. So it made sense to keep the production and distribution under tight control.

So the government caved to public pressure and sold off more than half of the stragetic reserve in the 1990s. The US government does not control production or limit it except there are certain export restrictions to countries like North Korea, where it is known that Kim Wang Chung loves party baloons.

Helium demand has been rising year on year for decades. The current shortage is a rishing demand vs supply production issue, most industrial helium is produced as a result of a decaying uranium reaction, the helium must then be harvested, blended, and compressed. It is a slow process and difficult to ramp up to meet the current level of demand.

So no, it isn't the government choking off the supply.

Grouse

Wow! Very informative. Thanks The Famous Grouse.

It would make more sense to ban balloon releases rather than straws... never seen a straw float off in the horizon...

Had a lady throw her fast food bag and cups out the window right in front of me while I was working in my ditch.
It slid right past me within 5 feet.
I jumped in the truck followed her for three miles to her house. Got out, threw it in her lawn next to her and told her
next time I would shove it up her @$$.

Now for the past five years she drives by with her head looking the other way if I am out, no eye contact.
Honestly, I am a pretty nice guy, but that day I was done. As I had seen her do it once a week for a while.
That was the first time I was able to follow her.

We have trash pick up in our area, no need to dump it in someone elses lawn.

Rick

Does it do the same as oxygen and acetylene? Or would it be better to have the mixture in one and helium in another to do the lifting? Can't do that today. You'd soon have the black helicopters buzzing around looking for the terrorist.

I live on a dead end road with only two neighbors past me and one or both of them litter the front of my property. I collect it until I get a bag full and dump it in their driveway. The littering quits for about six months and then starts up again.

My main gate is about 500' down the road from the house and screened by a fence row. Last summer I picked up condiment packets from more fast food restaurants than I could count and they all spilled from one bag this idiot keeps in his vehicle. There were an assortment of other bags and plastic stuff and cups all marked with logos from the nearby town FF alley. Had a guy toss a full can of pop out on the driveway one day and it went off like a grenade. Could not catch him. Big 4WD PU. Never sure what to think about this stuff. Why me?

Good for you, Rick!

The only affect on me, is a lot less helium tanks to deliver! 300 size tank is right at $300.00 right now.

Like the Grouse said, it isn't so much government interference that lead to the helium shortage but rather the government getting OUT of the helium business and selling its reserves at fire sale prices. Hopefully the shortage and resulting high prices will cut back on wasteful use of helium, particularly to fill party balloons that end up as trash in the countryside and oceans.

Any welding supply I ever went to offered argon . I don't remember welding with helium . Maybe one tank .

(quoted from post at 09:39:39 05/10/19) Any welding supply I ever went to offered argon . I don't remember welding with helium . Maybe one tank .

Click to expand...

Helium is used for TIG.

(quoted from post at 21:30:45 05/10/19)

(quoted from post at 09:39:39 05/10/19) Any welding supply I ever went to offered argon . I don't remember welding with helium . Maybe one tank .

Click to expand...

Helium is used for TIG.

Click to expand...

Are you sure about that ?

. We use helium as a cover gas above the moderator water in the reactors. Prevents the entry of oxygen , nitrogen and other gasses . Prevents corrosion and reduces radition from oxygen 16 and nitrogen 19.
Helium is also pumped into vessels then the vessels, seals and fittings are sniffed to find leaks .

(quoted from post at 14:36:47 05/14/19) . We use helium as a cover gas above the moderator water in the reactors. Prevents the entry of oxygen , nitrogen and other gasses . Prevents corrosion and reduces radition from oxygen 16 and nitrogen 19.
Helium is also pumped into vessels then the vessels, seals and fittings are sniffed to find leaks .

Click to expand...

We use hydrogen as our cover gas in the reactor coolant system when at power, and to cool the generator, just gotta keep it pure. We have used helium for leak detection in the steam condensers as well as sf6.

Oh yeah, and it's a noble gas, not a nobile gas.

(quoted from post at 22:35:14 05/14/19)

(quoted from post at 14:36:47 05/14/19) . We use helium as a cover gas above the moderator water in the reactors. Prevents the entry of oxygen , nitrogen and other gasses . Prevents corrosion and reduces radition from oxygen 16 and nitrogen 19.
Helium is also pumped into vessels then the vessels, seals and fittings are sniffed to find leaks .

Click to expand...

We use hydrogen as our cover gas in the reactor coolant system when at power, and to cool the generator, just gotta keep it pure. We have used helium for leak detection in the steam condensers as well as sf6.

Click to expand...

People tend to give us funny looks when we tell them the rotor is cooled by hydrogen at 3 to 5 atmospheres of pressure . And the 24,000volt stator windings are hollow and are cooled by flowing water through them .