HELIUM

PRODUCTION

Helium: Its Extraction and Purification

ROSS W. WILSON NATIONAL HELIUM CORP.
H. R. NEWSOM" LIBERAL, KANS.

Abstract design. From 1921 to 1925 the Linde Co. operated such
a plant for the U. S. Navy near Fort Worth, Tex. In 1925
This paper discusses the extraction of helium from nat- operation of this plant was assumed by U. S. Bureau of
ural gas as practiced in existing helium plants. There are Mines. Great advances in technology resulted from the pio-
various sources of helium but natural gas is currently the neering effort in the Fort Worth plant, contributing heavily
only commercial source. Several phases of the helium ex- to the establishment of an economically feasible method
traction process, such as refrigeration systems and methods for extracting helium from natural gas by a low-tempera-
of carbon dioxide and water removal, are similar to those ture liquefaction process: This new technology was used
in natural gas processing. It is concluded that in cryogenic in the late 1920's when USBM erected a helium extrac-
processes, solid desiccants are more suited than glycol for tion plant near Amarillo, Tex., to process natural gas from
water removal, and that with proper plant design, natural the Cliffside field. At this time the plant at Fort Worth
gas containing small amounts of carbon dioxide can be was closed down.
processed cryogenically. During World War II, USBM built four additional
Discussed are (I) the relationship of processing pressure helium extraction plants and enlarged the one at Amarillo
to the recovery method and equipment sizing, (2) various to provide helium for wartime use. These plants were built
methods of developing required refrigeration for the cryo- under extreme emergency conditions when time was not
genic process and (3) the design, utilization and metallurgy available to experiment with different designs; therefore,
of such items as compressor, heat exchangers, control they were all quite similar to the Amarillo plant. In 1959
valves, fractionating towers, dehydrators and insulation. the government put its latest plant on stream at Keyes,
Helium purification is examined as to methods of remov- Okla. This plant featured larger units and increased effi-
ing hydrogen, nitrogen and methane from the helium ciency in helium recovery.
stream. Included are noncryogenic methods of purifying In the early 1960's the government started its farsighted
helium. conservation efforts for helium that resulted in construc-
Introduction tion of five new helium plants by private companies. In

The role of helium has shifted in recent years from its

well known use as a lifting gas to many new, exciting and 1868-1968 Helium Centennial
possibly more important applications. The quantity of A helium centennial celebration began in Octo-
helium used for lifting purposes has fallen behind that ber, both as a tribute to the discovery of helium and
used for such other present-day purposes as pressurization, as a focusing point for the increased need of more
shielded arc welding, controlled atmosphere and research. effective conservation of all natural resources. The
Helium is valuable because as a gas it is odorless, tasteless, centennial is sponsored by government agencies, pri-
nontoxic, nonflammable, inert and light. As a liquid it is vate companies and institutions that are interested
valuable because of its very low boiling point of -452F in attracting public attention to the helium program
at atmospheric pressure. Because of these unique proper- as one successful example of conservation. Activities
ties, it has other small but important uses such as purg- in the year-long celebration will include essay con-
ing, leak detection, cryogenics, chromatography and heat tests for students, a Helium Applications Symposium
transfer. in Washington, D. C., and other related scientific
Small concentrations of helium can be found in air and meetings and conferences featuring exhibits and tech-
in certain minerals, and it was recovered from these nical papers on helium applications.
sources for some early experimental work;' but because of As depicted on this month's cover, a Times Col-
the very low concentrations, these are not considered to be umn monument is being erected in Amarillo, Tex.,
commercial sources. When helium was discovered in nat- to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the dis-
ural gas, all commercial recovery efforts quickly shifted to covery of helium. Time capsules forming the monu-
this new and exciting source. Some pioneer plants were ment will be opened at 25-, 50-, 100- and 1,000-
built in the United States and Canada to extract helium year intervals.
from natural gas during World War I. These early plants, This and the following paper are published to
built before the advance of technology and under a war- orient the petroleum engineer in the production, uses
time emergency atmosphere, were small and of uncertain and potential of this resource. The papers elaborate
Original manuscript received in Society of Petroleum Engineers office on the various helium extraction and purification
Aug. 9, 1967. Paper approved for publication Oct. 25, 1967. Paper (SPE techniques, upon government-industry cooperation
1952) was prepared for presentation at SPE 42nd Annual Fall Meeting
held in Houston, Tex., Oct. 1-4. 1967. © Copyright 1968 American In- in the use and conservation of helium, and upon fu-
stitute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers. Inc.
'Presently with Elcor Chemical Corp., Midland, Tex. ture prospects for uses of helium and its distribution.
lReferences given at end of paper.

APRIL, 1968 341

comparison with earlier plants, these five new plants are are indicated in some of the dehydration systems. At least
much larger, processing approximately ten times as much one plant has operated 4 years without a complete de-
gas; they produce only crude helium (50 to 85 percent frost, which indicates that successful dehydration is being
purity) while the older plants produce refined helium achieved.
(99.995 + percent purity). The new conservation plants
process natural gas streams containing considerably less Processing Pressures
helium. In addition to these five plants, four commercial
Helium extraction plants generally have been built on
plants producing refined helium have gone into operation
existing pipeline systems; therefore, pressure -available in
since 1960. Three of these are in the U. S. and one is in
the pipeline has dictated partially the operating pressure
Canada. Currently, two additional commercial plants are
range of the plant. As gas compression is one of the main
under construction, one in the U. S. and one in Canada.
costs in operating helium extraction plants, all efforts are
Natural Gas Processing: Pretreatment maintained to assure that gas pressure is not dissipated
needlessly.
The first step in processing natural gas for helium re- Using general terminology, present crude helium plants
covery usually is removal of certain objectionable impuri- fall into two categories: high pressure and low pressure.
ties. Since all modern plants utilize the cryogenic process, The low-pressure plants normally use a flash system that
the most undesirable impurities are water, carbon dioxide utilizes a series of pressure drops and phase separations
and hydrogen sulfide. Heavy hydrocarbons also can be a to achieve helium extraction. Some advantages claimed for
problem at cold temperatures. this system are its simplicity and lower pressure ratings
When carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide occur in required for processing equipment. The lower pressure is a
excessive quantities, they normally are removed by the use special advantage for heat exchangers in that the core or
of amine systems. These systems are the typical water extended surface (Trane) type can be used, whereas under
amine solution plants used for many years in plants present manufacturing technology, the wound (Hampson)
processing gas for LPG recovery. The use of molecular or shell-and-tube type might be required for higher pres-
sieves for removing carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide sures. Advantages claimed for the higher pressure process
was studied and suggested; however, it has not been ap- are smaller-sized equipment, better total heat transfer per
plied in any helium-extraction plants. One of the cryogen- square foot of heat exchanger surface and smaller piping
ic-type plants can process streams containing as much as and compressor equipment. One disadvantage is that a
0.25 percent carbon dioxide without removal facilities; it stripping phase is required. The system also has certain
is probable that, with minor changes in design, higher limitations as dictated by the critical pressure' of the nat-
concentrations of carbon dioxide could be processed. ural gas being processed. A simplified illustration of a low-
Heavy hydrocarbons are being removed in various plants pressure flash system for recovery of crude helium is shown
by different means. In some plants, the cryogenic section in Fig. I! A typical high-pressure process utilizing a strip-
is preceded by a refrigeration system, an oil absorption ping step is shown in Fig. 2. In a low-pressure process,
cycle or a combination refrigeration-oil absorption process. pressures might range from 500 lb to as low as 100 lb,
These various methods have proven satisfactory. Typically, whereas in the high-pressure process the pressure range
most of the propane and essentially all of the heavier might be from 650 to 450 lb.
fractions are removed before cooling the gas below -60F.
Refrigeration
Successful plant operators have discovered that dehy-
drating gas in the best possible manner is important. Good The cryogenic process requires a great deal of refrigera-
removal of water insures trouble-free operation and ex- tion. Some temperatures in the cryogenic plants drop to
tends the on-stream intervals between plant defrosts. Water - 320F. Refrigeration normally is achieved by the use of
removal by using glycols and solid desiccants has been one or more of three basic methods. Almost all plants use
practiced in existing plants. All current operators agree that the auto-refrigeration method achieved by pressure drop
dry desiccants are more suited for this application. Most on the gas stream itself. In addition, some closed-refrigera-
operators strive for removal of water down to approxi- tion cycles are used, and expansion engines also are util-
mately 0.2 ppm or less. Even though it is difficult to meas- ized. Auto-refrigeration is accomplished by dropping the
ure water content this small, residuals of 0.1 or 0.2 ppm pressure on the main gas stream or by dropping the pres-

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Fig. 2--Crude helium extraction cycle using high-pressure

Fig. l-Crude helium separation cycle using low-pressure stripping process with multiple cascade
flash system. refrigeration systems.

342 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

sure on a small side stream, or a combination of both. helium. Some of the newer multilayer super insulations
Some of the refrigerants used in closed loops are propane, also have been used in the plants handling liquid helium.
propylene, methane, ethylene and nitrogen. In some cases
where multiple closed cycles are used, one refrigerant is Instrumentation and Control
cascaded onto another. In other applications, refrigerant
condensing is accomplished by utilizing the main gas Many plant operators have experienced some instru-
stream itself. Fig. 2 illustrates a plant using propane, mentation and control difficulties, at least initially, when
methane and nitrogen cycles. In this process the propane bringing on a new plant. Most control problems arise
is condensed with cooling water, the methane is condensed from the large time delays in the control loops due to the
on the process itself and the nitrogen is condensed on the thermal inertia of the equipment. The sensitivity of in-
methane circuit. struments normally must be reduced to prevent over-
control, which tends to make over-all management of the
Equipment and Metallurgy process sluggish and unresponsive. Maintenance of instru-
mentation inside cold boxes has presented problems, and
A great variety of equipment is utilized in the plants now measuring levels in cryogenic fluids also is a challenge.
in operation. It has been said that a helium extraction The level instrument used most often is the simple differ-
plant is nothing more than a collection of compressors and ential pressure device. It has proven to be satisfactory for
heat exchangers. This is very near the truth. All types of almost every requirement when applied properly and care-
compressors can be found in the various plants. Some fully. Most other instrumentation is typical of that used in
types typically used are electric motor-driven centrifugal, natural gas processing plants except that greater accuracy
electric motor-driven reciprocating, gas engine-driven recip- occasionally is required in such applications as analyzing
rocating, and steam turbine- and jet engine-driven cen" for impurities in refined helium.
trifugal. Some plants have made economical use of steam Helium Purification
turbines and jet engines in that a fuel with low heating
value and high nitrogen content is used, which is a product The extraction plants producing crude helium for stor-
of the process itself. This technique has the advantage of age under the government. conservation program normally
upgrading the heating value of the residue gas. deliver helium in the purity range of 50 to 85 percent,
Heat exchangers in a helium plant take on many shapes whereas plants producing Grade A helium for sale must
and forms. The typical shell-and-tube type is found in the achieve a minimum purity of 99.995+ percent. To achieve
warmer sections of the plant, while in the cold sections such high purities, more sophisticated impurities-rejection
the wound tube and the core (extended surface) types are equipment must be used, and lower temperatures are em-
utilized. Since some pressure limitations have been experi- ployed in the process.
enced with the extended surface exchangers, the larger The first step in purifying crude helium normally is
plants generally have used the wound-type exchanger for hydrogen removal. Natural gas usually contains small
the large heat exchange requirements. quantities of hydrogen that become concentrated in the
A variety of materials have been used in manufacturing crude helium. This must be removed before Grade A
the heat exchangers, compressors, piping, valves, etc. For purity can be achieved. Hydrogen removal is effected by
economic reasons, the metal is graduated from common catalytic oxidation, dehydration and finally low-tempera-
carbon steels in the warmer sections of the plant to low- ture charcoal adsorption. In the oxidation step, all but a
grade alloys, and finally to stainless, 9 percent nickel steel, trace of the hydrogen is converted to water by introducing
and aluminum or copper for the coldest temperatures. For a slightly insufficient quantity of air. The water produced
some intermediate temperatures, such materials as 3.5 per- is removed by conventional adsorbents, and the trace quan-
cent nickel steel and killed steel have been used. Some tity of hydrogen left over is removed by low-temperature
economic advantages have been realized by using 9 per- charcoal adsorption along with trace quantities of other
cent nickel for large pieces of equipment. A recent change impurities in the final stage of the cryogenic purification
in the AS ME code allows fabrication of 9 percent nickel process.
steel without stress relieving. This has enhanced its value A typical cryogenic purification process is shown in Fig.
in the operating temperatures between - 50 and - 320F. 3." This simplified drawing does not show the hydrogen
Materials selected for valves, piping, etc., also are dic- oxidation step. In this process, crude helium is cooled
tated by the temperatures involved. Generally, soft-seated (normally at high pressure) to temperatures at which the
valves are used where tight shut-offs are required. Leaking methane and nitrogen will condense and permit a phase
cryogenic valves pose more problems than simply a waste separation. This phase separation normally takes place in
of products in that they sometimes will cause undesirable two stages: the first stage at the temperature obtained
icing or frosting of lines and equipment. with liquid nitrogen at atmospheric pressure, and the sec-
Insulating cryogenic plants has always been a matter of ond stage of separation at a temperature obtained with
engineering and operating concern. Care should be taken liquid nitrogen under vacuum. The gaseous helium then is
p~ssed through charcoal, which also is held at liquid
to insure the best job possible. In the typical cryogenic
plant for extracting helium, each piece of equipment and mtrogen temperature. The charcoal effectively removes the
piping that normally is warmer than - 50F is insulated remaining contaminants, and the resulting helium (Grade
separately with foam glass. Below this temperature the A) generally contains less than 50 ppm of foreign material
typical procedure is to group the equipment into cold box such as neon, hydrogen, nitrogen and methane.
construction. The most commonly used insulating materials At a newer plant the purification cycle is somewhat
for cold boxes are mineral wool and perlite. Mineral wool different in that crude helium is contacted with liquid
normally is chosen for areas where some repair and main- methane, which "scrubs out" the nitrogen impurities and
tenance work is expected, and perlite has been used where results in a helium purity near 99 percent. This helium
little or no personnel entry requirements are expected. For then is purified further by the low-temperature charcoal
obvious reasons, perlite is much easier to install but is adsorption step.
more difficult to manage during repairs. Vacuum jacketing In the past, plants built to purify crude helium to Grade
and liquid nitrogen shielding are used in the lower tem- A all have used high-pressure design. The process pressures
perature ranges, and especially in plants producing liquid are great enough (in excess of 2,000 psig) that, after

,\PRIL, 1968 S4S

 37% HELIUM Helium diffuses through glass tubing' and it is possible to
,- '{A!:~R_ ~_0.t:!T_ ~~~o_____ _
RECYCLE extract and purify helium by this method. However, the
CRUDE HELIUM : VAPOR N2 OUT Opsig diffusion rate is so low that this method has not yet been
f--------,-~---------T-----
2750 psi 9 .+- ____ l_lI9-':'1~ _N~Jr:! ~QOy,"i9l ___ T_ commercialized. Research work has been conducted with
GRADE nAn
t 98.2%: $ $99.5%! f different diffusion membranes.' Schindler8 reported that
He. OUT
,, crude helium might be purified by absorption of the nitro-
·NI1~~~N -- "
I ,
,
, gen in propane at relatively warm temperatures.
Future of Helium
Even though the demand for helium almost vanished
between World Wars I and II, helium decidedly is here
-320· F - 340· F to stay and will be in demand in ever-increasing quantities.
If the government's developmental uses are not curtailed,
helium consumption could increase from the present rate
"A" HELIUM 99.995% of approximately 850 MMcf/year to 2 Bcf/year in 5 years.
,
The extraction of helium from natural gas apparently will
~ __ J continue to be the only commercial source since it appears
He. - N2
SEPARATOR
unlikely that more economical sources will be discovered.
References
Fig. 3-Helium purification cycle using low-temperature
phase separation and charcoal adsorption. 1. Keesom, \V. H.: Helium. Elsevier Publishing Co., Amster-
dam-London-New York-Princeton (1942).
processing, the helium can go directly to fill shipping con- 2. Lipper, H. W.: "Helium", Mineral Facts and Problems.
tainers. This is an attractive method of handling the helium USBM Bull. 630 (1965) 429-440.
in that lubricated-type compression can be used because 3. Davis, P. C., Bertuzzi, A. F., Gore, T. L. and Kurata, F.:
it is done before purification. Any compression after puri- "The Phase and Volumetric Behavior of Natural Gases at
fication must be done non-lubricated to prevent contamina- Low Temperatures and High Pressures", 1. Pet. Tech. (Oct.,
tion. Even though many non-lubricated types of compres- 1954) 37-43.
sors are available, they most often are less efficient and 4. Deaton, W. M. and Haynes, R. D.: "Helium Production at
require more maintenance. Oil contamination resulting the Bureau of Mines' Keyes, Oklahoma, Plant", USBM,
IC 8018 (1961) 8.
from preprocessing compression can be removed easily by
suitable adsorbents. 5. Deaton, W. M. and Haynes, R. D.: "Helium Production at
the Bureau of Mines' Keyes, Oklahoma, Plant", USBM, IC
Some newer plants that liquefy all or a sizeable per- 8018 (1961) 11.
centage of their Grade A production are more likely to 6. McAfee, K. B., Jr.: Bell Labs Record (1960) Vol. 38, 354.
use lower processing pressures in the purification step be-
cause the higher pressures are not advantageous to the 7. Stern, S. A., Sinclair, T. F., Gareis, P. J., Vahldieck, N. P.
and Mohr, P. H.: "Helium Recovery by Permeation", Ind.
liquefying process. and Eng. Chem. (Feb., 1965) Vol. 57, No.2, 49.
Some problems in producing high-purity helium con- 8. Schindler, D. L., Swift, G. W. and Kurata, F.: "More Low
sistently have been reduced by the introduction of better Temperature VoL Design Data", Hydrocarbon Processing
methods to monitor and analyze the product. In the last (Nov., 1966) Vol. 45, No. 11, 205.
few years on-stream chromatographic analyzers have been 9. "Helium Use Could Drop 25% This Year", Chem. and Eng.
developed that can accurately measure trace contaminants. News (July 3, 1967) Vol. 45, No. 28, 18. ***
Some helium consumers are now requesting ultra-high
purity, which sometimes presents a problem in that neon
concentrations can often be too high. No special effort
is being made at existing plants to remove neon, al-
though it is partially removed by low-temperature charcoal
adsorption.

Helium Liquefaction
Since helium has a gas-to-liquid volume ratio of 750: 1,
it is more economically transported as a liquid where long
distances are involved, and large volumes of liquid helium
presently are being transported not only across the nation Ross W. Wilson (left), executive vice-president of Na-
but also by air across the oceans. Presently, three plants tional Helium Corp., has some 20 years of experience in
in the U. S. are performing the full cycle of extraction, helium extraction. He started in 1946 with the U. S. Bu-
purification and liquefaction. One liquefaction plant has an reau of Mines' helium extraction plant at Amarillo, Tex.,
announced capacity of 900 liters/hour, which is considered and in 1952 he joined Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co.-
to be the world's largest. There are many other liquefiers a co-owner of National Helium. Wilson received his BS
in operation ranging in size down to laboratory units. degree from West Texas State College and an MS from
the U. of Tennessee. H. R. Newsom (right) is president of
The very low heat of helium vaporization (9 Btu/gal)
the Sulphur & Industrial Chemicals Div. of Elcor Chem-
imposes an extraordinary insulation and design problem
ical Corp. in Midland, Tex. He was with National Helium
upon the liquefaction process and transportation, storage
from 1962-67 in various capacities, ending with vice-
and handling equipment.
president of operations. An electrical engineering graduate
N oncryogenic Separation of Texas A&M U., Newsom worked briefly with Sinclair
Pipe Line Co. before joining Stanolind Oil & Gas Corp.
For a number of years there has been some research During 13 years with Stanolind and other subsidiaries of
work conducted on noncryogenic methods of extracting Standard Oil Co. (Ind.), he held various positions, includ-
helium from natural gas and on the purification of helium. ing plant superintendent.

344 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY