| Helium Purification |  |
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| Specification |
| Helium In AeroSpace
Technology Helium is used for purging and pressurizing the liquid hydrogen fuel of rockets. This is made possible because of helium's features like low solubility, low boiling point and inertness. Helium is the only inert substance that can be remain a gas in such low temperature environs. |
Helium has a a variety of applications, that includies space, military, energy developmernt along with medical, computer and fiber optics. Low purity Helium in the gaseous state is produced from the crude helium by PSA process. A typical Helium purification process involves removal of oxygen and Nitrogen present in the streams of helium-rich gases.
The pressure swing adsorption(PSA) process that is used in the Helium purification processs is based on selective physical adsorption of gases on to the adsorbents. These adsorbents are able to remove non-helium component like oxygen and Nitrogen at operating pressures. Thus producing purified helium. In the PSA process, the adsorbents are regenerated by purging the impurities(gas) at very low pressures. The PSA process offers one great advantage over the cryogenic methods of separation in the Helium purification process. PSA systems generally require less power to operate and can be turned on and off easily - a great advantage when dealing with irregular inputs of the helium/air mixture but can easily return the right volume of helium to the tower.
An illustration showing the inside view of a Helium purifier:
Specification of a PSA based Helium Purification system:
Though the purification of Helium by PSA system can differ with respect to the paricular equipment used. Some general specifications are given here for a particular PSA system of purifying Helium Gas for commercial use.
- PSA Feed Gas Conditions
- Helium Concentration- Varies from 25 to 99. 99%
- Temperature- Ranges between 4 to 50°C
- Pressure -Generally between 50 to 300 PSIG
- PSA Product Gas
- Flow Range- Typically 5 to over 300 NCMH
- Helium Concentration- Generally more than 90%
- Pressure Drop- Less than 7 psig
- PSA Exhaust Gas
- Pressure 2 psig for peak performance