Description
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Helium is a noble gas with an atomic weight of 4.002602. Helium has a melting point of -458 °F and a boiling point of -452.07 °F. Helium is most widely known as a safe gas alternative for hydrogen which is used to fill balloons and blimps. Other frequent uses of helium include: as a cooling medium in nuclear reactor processes, as a gas which protects semiconductor materials, as a pressurizing liquid in rocket fuel, and in a mixture with oxygen gas for deep diving purposes.
Isolation
The largest amounts of Helium on the earth today are produced from radioactive decay. Nearly all of the helium that is isolated is removed from concentrations that exist in natural gas reserves through fractional distillation.
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The helium concentrations that are found in natural gas reserves from Dallas-Fort Worth Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas are currently some of the only resources for helium isolation in the world. The quickly disappearing amounts of natural gas which contain helium are predicted to end by the year 2016. Isolation methods for helium are only produced on industrial commercial levels, so laboratory isolation methods are not used or even possible with the equipment that is needed. The fractional distillation of helium involves separating the helium from other gases by heating the chemical compounds it is in to the boiling point; the compounds will be separated into individual gases by the heat and the gases can then be separated. The current isolation method of helium involves passing the helium sources over extremely low temperatures, close to the boiling point of helium. The charcoal absorbs the extra gases, and only 100% pure helium is left. The helium gas is liquefied by extremely cold temperatures and is then stored in its liquid state.