Newer items at top
06-08-2023
Helium shortage update
Good (ish) news:
We
will be able to purchase a slightly higher allotment of helium each
month starting in July. This may mean we are past the crisis
point of dwindling inventory on hand if we remain vigilent keeping our
losses at a minimum.
06-02-2023
UF Legacy
Arthur Hingery; Senior Engineer , Cryogenic Engineering Supervisor June 1987-Aug 1991 died Dec. 26, 2022 aged 68.
I just found out about this. I lost contact with Art shortly after he left UF and moved to Colorado.
https://www.horancares.com/obituary/Arthur-Hingerty
Read the obitury and then come back to continue reading here.
While
trying to find his dates of employment, I was rifling through old paper
documents saved so long ago. I remember so much good about Art.
He
was a friend as well as my boss. The memories dug up on the note
which had his dates of employment not so much. Back then I was trying
to keep track and archive
all previous Cryogenic Services staff.
(Has not changed in ~20 years) The reasons each left were listed.
Art's obituary completely omits his time at UF. At first that hurt. But then it became all too understood.
05-31-2022
Exciting new webpage updates into this century
The
main Cryogenic Services webpage and staff webpages have been updated to
conform to the look and feel of the main Physics Website. Thank
you Pam Marlin!
Helium Shortage 4.0
Update 16 months into the helium shortage:
It
wasn't supposed to last this long. Of course it was never
supposed to have happened in the first place. But here we are 16
months later and we are still not having to severely restrict or shut
down systems. The Maglab was able to renegotiate a contract that
is allowing them to purchase the helium they need at elevated pricing
with a different vendor than is available to us. They also have a
greater influence as a National lab.
Thank you to
everyone who is still being careful and vigilant . This is why we
continue successfully. Everyone doing their part, however small,
helps everyone else and themselves.
As you may have noticed, we are surrounded by construction which is problematic in mutliple areas of what we do.
06-07-2022
Helium Shortage 4.0
Update 4 months into the helium shortage:
We
may be seeing the slightest glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
The Federal Helium Reserve operations have been handed over to Messer,
a private international industrial gas supplier company. They are in
the process of handing over the actual operations at the site, however,
there is no forecast of when the facility will be operational again,
but this is progress. (This appears to have been false information.) Work is being done. Looking at the Federal
job positions at the Helium Reserve, about half of them are vacant. And
I mean top key supervisory, operational, fiscal, and management
positions.
We are still losing more helium than we are capable
of purchasing in reduced allocation, but we are doing pretty well and
continue to be in good standing overall. Since the beginning of
the billing cycle and the beginning of allocations Feb 1, 2022 we have
lost approximately 200 liters from our total inventory of 12k Liters
above what we could buy in replacement helium. (333 Liters/month
x4 months ~1330 L ) Keep in mind that of that 12K Liters in
helium inventory only about 2000-3000 Liters is in circulation and of
that, we are only about 500 Liters, at best, above our minimum capacity
before we need to start making modifications in how we operate and then
to start making real sacrifices. And here is where I remind you how
much better off we are than almost everywhere else.
We are doing
exceptionally well. There are still sources of leaks that I am trying
to locate and mitigate, but they have been elusive. If we continue on
this pace or better, we will get through many more months and hopefully
through until allocations are lifted.
Please continue to be
vigilant to identify any suspected leak source and ask for help if
needed to locate, reduce, or eliminate it. Any cooldown must be
proceeded by a complete warm leak test of the cryostat and recovery
system.
05-12-2022
Helium Shortage 4.0
Update three months into the shortage;
I
got to be optimistic for about one day when calculating the Helium
Report for April and saw that we were at the break even point. We have
managed to reduce our system wide loss rate to less than the amount of
helium we can buy. This means that we could run like this, as-is,
indefinitly. April included one of the biggest cryostat cooldowns
we have on campus. We spent a great deal of time prior to the cooldown
to assure all aspects of that system were leak tight. The feeling of
success was uplifting. Then, as is typical of our great Top 5
University, success was immediately followed by administration and
rules. Nothing has happened yet, but the likely outcome of this
conversation is that our tenuous reduced helium supply will be cut or
the cost will skyrocket.
I have read that the Federal Crude
Helium Enrichement Facility in Texas is now in the hands of private
Industry, Messer, who I had never heard of prior*, is now the
responsible party for that facility.
From the Bureau of Land Management; UPDATED 4/25/2022: On April 22, 2022, the BLM
was informed by our contracting officer (Emmett Larson) that an
operations contract has been awarded to Messer. This operations
contract will operate the Crude Helium Enrichment Unit (CHEU) using
private industry operators. This is a key milestone in the return to
operating the Cliffside facility and to deliver helium safely to private
industry. |
They
are a huge global industrial gas company. This could be good news.
Getting that facility back operational will be a huge positive
impact to reduce the shortage. And at this point, private industry
was the only way. But, the likely outcome from this
is increased prices.
We are also nervously watchng the
construction (destruction?) of the roadway immediately
north of the Physics building that started last week. Our two major
remote helium recovery lines from AMRIS, Microkelvin and Chemistry all
feed under that road in the path of the utility upgrades.
*Although
the name goes back a century, Messer was formed in 2019 by acquiring
several subsets of other global industrial gas company holdings.
LindeAG, Linde, Praxair. Based in Germany.
04-10-2022
Helium Shortage 4.0
Update two months into the shortage;
Thank
you for your continued cooperation and understanding with all things
liquid helium and recovery. With your help to take care and
minimize helium losses we are doing pretty well. We are still
exceeding our resupply quota for make-up helium, but we are very close
to break even. If we can stay vigilant and continue our efforts to
reduce helium losses, we will be able to avoid the panic and troubles
reported at other institutions, hopefully all the way through this
extended helium shortage.
We still have a long way to
go. Updates about when we might see increased helium supplies
have not been updated. It is still projected to be a year or more.
We
are also rapidly approaching the Congressionally mandated end of the
Federal Helium Reserve in September of this year. The helium gas
industry is pressuring the US Congress to act on keeping the Reserve
viable and transferred to private industry safely and on an extended
timeline. The degradation of the Federal Reserve is one of the many
factors causing the shortage now.
Please pass this information on to the helium using students and staff in your areas.
And thanks again for your help and understanding,
03-08-2022
Helium Shortage 4.0
Helium Users,
Please make sure this gets to your Grad students and staff that handle the helium.
We are early on in an unprecedented helium shortage of quick onset and uncertain duration.
*********************
https://www.gasworld.com/helium-markets-now-experiencing-helium-shortage-40/2022650.article
Helium markets now experiencing ‘Helium Shortage 4.0’ | News | gasworld
When
helium markets tightened up during the second half of 2021 due
primarily to a four month maintenance outage of the US Bureau of Land
Management’s (BLM) crude helium enrichment unit, the industry consensus
was that Gazprom’s Amur project would begin pumping large quantities of
helium into the market by ...
www.gasworld.com
********************
Our
Helium suppliers Nexair and Airgas have sent us, as well as all of
their customers, official notifications that we will only be able to
buy 50% of our previous year's purchases. Nexair calculated 333
Liters of liquid helium per month. This means that our total inventory
of helium will be steadily reducing making it more labor intensive on
John and I and more difficult to supply helium as needed the longer we
are in this shortage, which is predicted to last a year. There is
also the real possibility that we might not get our allocation.
There are no known alternative sources of helium.
We
need everyone's attention and cooperation to absolutely take care and
reduce helium losses to the barest minimum. If we could get below 300
liters per month of losses, we could keep running existing cold
cryostats indefinitely. (We are at ~530 Liters per month)
A
strange thing about a recovery system like ours, however, is that new
cryostats added to the system or existing idle ones cooled down are the
functional equivalent of a loss. The base reservoir of helium in
that system is removed from our production process. That is bad. On the
other hand, a cold system warmed up, that stays warmed up, acts like
purchased helium and is added into the production process. This is good.
As
we go along through this shortage, cooldowns and new systems will need
to be strongly discouraged now and possibly prohibited in the near
future, for the benefit of running cryostats for as long as we are in
this shortage. The full Helium Users committee will be responsible for
determining which ones when we get to that point unless we have
voluntary cooperation that eases us along. We will need to stop
cooldowns and warm some presently cold cryostats if the shortage is as
predicted. Start thinking about this now.
Keep in mind, a large
part of the rest of the helium using world doesn't have these options.
The closing and mothballing of helium using places may be unprecedented
and severe, including hospitals and semiconductor manufacturing.
And many of them aren't even aware of this yet.
Updates will come and things may change either way as we learn more.
Things you can do:
Replace
and lightly vacuum grease the transfer tube port oring at the beginning
of the next time you transfer and occassionally thereafter (rubber
stopper the open hole while replacing the oring).
Let the system depressurize and thaw longer before removing the transfer tube after transferring.
Shorten the time that the transfer tube port is open to atmosphere as possible.
Check all recovery connections for handling or vibrational loosening.
And, in general, be observant and cognizant and mitigate any hints of helium escaping in all procedures.
I am starting with the biggest helium loss cases and working my way through them all.
04-06-15
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for March
2015 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
03-20-15
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for February
2015 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
03-03-15
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for January
2015 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
02-04-15
-The annual Helium Use / Loss
report for 2014
has been posted.
-The annual Helium Usage
by Year and Usage
by Building graphs have also been updated and posted.
01-14-15
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for December
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
12-09-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for November
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
11-20-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for October
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
10-14-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for Sepember
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
10-13-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for August
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
10-10-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for July
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
07-02-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for June
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
06-26-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for May
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
05-19-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for April
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
04-07-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for March
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
03-24-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for February
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
02-04-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for January
2014 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
01-11-14
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for December
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
12-12-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for November
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
11-06-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for October
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
10-10-13
-Who thinks we should start a helium recovery / liquefaction
instruction course?
The idea
would be to train new inductees, and partially experienced operators
who want to improve.
One-two day tours?
One week course at UF with a tour and discussions?
Individuals or groups?
Longer term training with hands on working at UF facility?
On-line training course and materials?
10-10-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for September
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
10-09-13
-The Helium Panic
has subsided. The President of the United States has signed the Helium
Stewardship Act of 2013 that
passed both the House and Senate unanomously..
-Nevertheless,
helium is still limited because the demand is higher than the current
supply. Most suppliers still have allocation
restrictions on current customers and they are not able to
take on new customers.
09-26-13
-http://www.nature.com/news/us-extends-life-of-helium-reserve-1.13819
09-19-13
-Fun Facts; Oops, I was
wrong. The Senate made changes to the bill so it has to go back to the
House for another vote.
09-19-13
-Fun Facts;
Helium
crisis possibly averted.....for now, a one year respite if signed by
the President. The single non-voter... Marco Rubio R-FL. 2 No votes; AL
and TX Republicans.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2013/s203?utm_campaign=govtrack_feed&utm_source=govtrack%2Ffeed&utm_medium=rss
Contrary
to the reports in the media, it does not need to go back to the House.
The Senate passed the House bill, so it just needs the President's
signature to become active.
09-19-13
-Fun Facts;
GE
Healthcare, which uses helium to make magnetic resonance imaging
scanners, told Reuters the spot price of liquid helium has jumped to
$25-$30 per liter from $8 last year.
"There is no question the
situation is challenging. We are having to look at different sources of
helium, not just the U.S. supply, and have invested $17 million in a
plant to capture waste helium," said Richard Hausmann, president and
chief executive of GE Healthcare's global magnetic resonance business.
The
company uses around 5.5 million liters of helium a year in its
production facility in South Carolina and another 6 million liters a
year servicing MR systems at U.S. sites.
09-18-13
-Fun Facts;
Australia
0.15 Bcf/yr
Algeria 0.4 Bcf/yr
Poland 0.15 Bcf/yr
Qatar 1.7Bcf/yr
Total nonUS 2.4 Bcf/yr
Proposed for 2020;
East Siberia 7.0 Bcf/yr
09-17-13
-Panic is afoot;
http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/i37/Helium-Headache.html
09-12-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for August
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
-We have had some assurances from our helium supplier that we will be
able to get helium and we will
be one of the last to be cut-off. The are placing priority on their
medical and scientific customers.
-We are still waiting to see what happens with Legislation. The
University of Florida has signed on with
a consortium of industrial, governmental and academic helium users, to
send a joint letter to Senate
and House leaders to encourage rapid, positive legislative action..
http://www.semiconductors.org/clientuploads/ESH/Helium%20users%20letter%20sept%202013%20%282%29.pdf
08-30-13
-Panic is afoot;
Actual facts;
http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nm/programs/0/federal_helium_program.Par.28420.File.dat/082613_QandAs_WOapproved.pdf
08-29-13
-FYI to all helium users and all other
interested parties;
We
thought we had until 2015 before we hit this wall, but because the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was able to repay their debt two
years
early, and according to a law passed in 1996, they are now required to
shut down their operations for storing the U.S. helium reserves.
Only
an act of Congress can stop the shutdown at this point. And even if
the Senate acts as soon as they return from summer recess
(The
House has
already passed Legislation), it is already too late to
stop a likely, industry-wide increase in helium prices and a further
decrease in availability.
I tried to find an article without helium puns and incorrect
information. This is the best, brief article I found;
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/why-you-should-care-about-the-looming-helium-shortage
I
can not predict what will happen to us locally, except that we are in a
much better position than many other helium users. But you should be
aware that this is happening and if you are so inclined, learn more and
contact your representatives.
08-28-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for July
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
07-04-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for June
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
06-10-13
-Prices for cryogens will be
increasing effective July 1, 2013.
New
Rates;
Heliun Used = $0.60/lL for Physics
and $2.20/lL for all else.
Helium Lost = $6.50/lL.
Nitrogen = $0.18/lL or Liquid
equivalent in gas.
06-06-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for May
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
05-09-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for April
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
04-26-13
-Finally! The new liquefier
has been installed and commissioned.
-All test results exceeded specifications.
Tested liquefaction rates in liquid Liters per hour were;
Two
Compressors
One Compressor
|
Pure Helium |
Impure Helium |
|
Pure Helium |
Impure Helium |
| With LN2 |
80.7 |
73.4 |
|
53.7 |
50.1 |
| Without LN2 |
23.2 |
19.5 |
|
19.6 |
19.5 |
-The Helium Use / Loss report for March
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
03-04-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for February
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
02-11-13
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for January
2013 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
12-11-12
-Prices for cryogens will be
increasing sometime soon.
Proposed
changes;
Heliun Used from $0.50/lL to $0.60/lL and
from $2.00/lL to $2.20/lL
Helium Lost from $5.00/lL to $7.00/lL
And Nitrogen from $0.14/lL to
$0.16/lL
-The cryo budget ballance has
been steadily declining and is now prohibitively low.
-The Helium Use / Loss report for November
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
11-05-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for October
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
10-05-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for September
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
09-12-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for August
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
08-14-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for July
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
07-09-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for June
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
-Another world-wide helium
shortage is going on that none of us here have noticed.
Balloon helium
has been severely curtailed and some rationing of others uses has been
on-going. And, of course to
report on the shortage, main-stream media perpetuates
stupidity and wastes helium. Contrary to that,
here
is a welding industry take on it. And here are the only ones to correctly
report on it. There is a
bill in congress to address the issue HR
S2374. Latest info
but nothing new.
06-07-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for May
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
05-07-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for April
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
04-06-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for March
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
03-06-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for February
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
02-08-12
-We have received info that an experimental cryostat exploded
at a prominent U.S. research facility.
No one was injured and an investigation is on-going. The equipment was
totally destroyed and many
people are going to be subjected to critical review. The preliminary
take-away is;
DO NOT LEAVE CRYOGENIC TRANSFERS UNATTENDED!!!!
There were other issues that made the situation worse, but
the entire incident could have been
prevented by the operator being present.
02-06-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for January
2012 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
01-06-12
-The annual Helium Use / Loss
report for 2011
has been posted.
-The annual Helium Usage
by Year and Usage
by Building graphs have also been updated and posted.
-The annual reports for Nitrogen; Usage
by Year and Usage
by Lab, have been posted.
01-05-12
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for December
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
12-05-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for November
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
11-09-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for October
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
10-06-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for September
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
09-16-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for August
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
08-02-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for July
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
07-08-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for June
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
06-06-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for May
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
05-23-11
-We finally got approval to
spend the money on our grant for upgrading/updating our equipment.
-There is a press release on the UF homepage today.
-Press
release
05-05-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for April
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
04-04-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for March
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
03-04-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for February
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
02-04-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for January
2011 has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
01-05-11
-The annual Helium Use / Loss
report for 2010
has been posted.
-The annual Helium Usage
by Year and Usage
by Building graphs have also been updated and posted.
-The annual reports for Nitrogen; Usage
by Year and Usage
by Lab, have been posted.
-It was a banner year for cryogenics, the second highest consumption
rate since reliable records have been kept.
-Looking at the usage by building graph and extrapolating into the
future we can see an 8 year cycle for Williamson,
that the NPB will no longer have helium users by 2025 and that the MBI
will be using more helium than is available
worldwide by then. Aren't graphs wonderful?
01-03-11
-The Helium Use / Loss report for December
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
12-02-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report for November
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
11-02-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report for October
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
10-05-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report for September
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
9-02-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report for August
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
8-20-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report for July
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
7-02-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report for June
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
6-28-10
-First failure of the
Omeganet last week. One of the data modules which tracks the temperature of the NPB impure
storage bank,
is located outdoors in what I thought was a water proof box. After a
couple weeks of heavy rains and high temperatures, water
worked its way into the box and shorted the modulle, which
prevented comunication with modules downstream.
The
remakable part is not that the unit failed, but more how it continued
to work for as long as it did. By the time it failed
completely, it was fully submerged in water.
-The
cryonet in the NPB also failed recently with no proven
reason.
The working theory is that the nighttime janitorial crew has
been
stripping and waxing the tile floors throughout the building and since
the cryonet power is plugged into the same 110VAC circuits
as their
equipment, we are speculating that the power spikes are enough to
disable the fiber optic repeaters in the cryonetr. I have installed
small battery backed UPS surge surpressing power strips to plug in the
cryonet wallwarts nearest the fiber repeaters.
6-08-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report for May
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
-The cryonet died right at the end of the month and I still am not
quite sure whether it is fixed.
I replaced a couple dead batteries in gasmen and added power
supplies/chargers into the network at the fiber optic repeaters,
which seem to be the locus of the problems
5-10-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for April
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
4-02-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for March
2010
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
3-03-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for February
2010
has been posted.
2-03-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for January
2010
has been posted.
2-02-10
-A new report on helium has been pre-published; National_Helium_Reserve_2010.pdf
It is an update and follow-up on the 2000 report; "The
Impact of Selling the Federal Helium Reserve"
1-08-10
-The Helium Use / Loss report
for December
09
has been posted.
-The Helium Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
-The annual Helium Use / Loss report for 2009
has been posted.
-The annual Helium Usage
by Year and Usage
by Building graphs have also been updated and posted.
-The annual reports for Nitrogen; Usage
by Year and Usage
by Lab, have been posted.
12-04-09
-The helium Use / Loss report
for November
09
has been posted.
-The Usage
by Month and Transported
vs Total graphs have also been updated and posted.
11-05-09
-The helium Use / Loss report
for October
09
has been posted.
10-28-09
-First snow for Gainesville Fl this year. An unusually strong
cold front swept through the area.
Photos
Video
The Liquid Nitrogen feed valve controller for the helium liquefier
stuck open during a fill of our
Bulk Nitrogen Storage tank. The two day ice-skating party was a blast.
10-02-09
-The helium Use / Loss report
for September
09
has been posted.
09-02-09
-The helium Use / Loss report
for August
09
has been posted.
-Included in this months
bills is a significant unannounced price drop. Nitrogen is
now $0.14/lL, down from $0.20/lL.
-Helium for Physics PI's is $0.50/lL used plus $5.00/lL lost, down from
$0.60 and $6.50.
-Outside Physics rates are $2.00/lL used and $5.00/lL lost, down from
$2.20 and $6.50.
-I can not predict the length of time these new prices will be in
effect or whether new pricing will go up or down from here.
-This
month's helium disaster was a hose to the purity monitor for reference
pure gas from the pure storage bank came loose over the weekend and
drained ~250lL of pure helium.
08-24-09
-The helium Use / Loss report
for June
09
has been posted.
-The helium Use / Loss report
for July
09
has been posted.
06-05-09
-The helium Use / Loss report for May
09
has been posted.
-Finally.!
For the first time since I started working here in 1983, I have
installed a NEW helium recovery compressor.! In over 26 years we have
been getting by with other people's hand me downs and second
hand
compressors that were so out of date that the only way to get parts for
them was to scavange parts off of the other ones that were more broken
or we had replacement parts made by our Machine shop. We had
reached the point that we were down to only one
working
compressor, but it was also 30 years old and not adaquate to
meet
peak daytime demands without manipulating and coordinating
the
helium recovery flows from the other buildings.
-Earlier this week,
the 30 year old external purifier had a pinhole leak that vented a
couple hundred liters of helium overnight before we could shut it down
for repairs the next morning.
05-05-09
-The helium Use / Loss report for Apr
09
has been posted.
04-05-09
-The helium Use / Loss report for Mar
09
has been posted.
03-17-09
-This is so remarkable I have to post photos. We
have been chasing an air leak into recovery for a while. Normally we
can find and fix these problems in a short time by rounding up the
usual suspects and beating them until they talk. So we were caught off
guard when it was one of our best and most careful and experienced
users and that we had multiple problems masking each other. But the
most remarkable thing is that we had a huge hole on the main hose going
to our main recovery bag and yet we did not measure an increase in
helium losses but instead we were getting unexplained air spikes at a
newly installed purity monitor upstream of the hose break.
Looking at the hose makes me think this has been there for a
long
time. Photos
03-05-09
-The helium Use / Loss report for Feb
09
has been posted.
02-10-09
-The helium Use / Loss report for Jan
09
has been posted.
01-07-09
-The helium Use / Loss report for Dec
08
has been posted.
-The 2008 Annual reports for Helium; Usage
by Year, Usage
by Building, Usage
by Month and Usage
by Lab, have been posted.
-The 2008 Annual reports for Nitrogen; Usage
by Year and Usage
by Lab, have been posted.
12-10-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Nov
08
has been posted.
11-04-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Oct
08
has been posted. Fun facts for October; All labs except three that
could be running were running in October. John did 106 transfers for
the month. Normal is 60-70. Our helium recovery rate was below 10 lL/hr
for only 34 hours in the month.
10-10-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Sept
08
has been posted. Also note the sharp
increase in helium use in September.
09-02-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Aug
08
has been posted. A new column has been added; "Effective
$/lL"
It is simply the amount of helium you used divided
by the
amount you pay, including helium lost.
08-20-08
-Crisis
averted...again. Monday, our large helium recovery compressor was shut
down for unscheduled maintainence because it was making a horrible
noise.
A noise similar to the one the eBay Bauer compressor made
just prior to disintigrating into smaller
pieces. In this case, I found
that the main flywheel/pulley
had worn the main shaft and its hub
to the point where the fan blades were hitting the shroud. What sounds
like a minor problem actually isn't. I couldn't just buy a new
flywheel, because of the damage to the shaft. I couldn't replace the
shaft in short order. And we have no more back-up compressors. 2/3 of
our helium recovery capacity was down. Thanks to the work of our
Machine shop, Mark and Ed, the shaft was remachined in place, on the
compressor, (no small feat), the flywheel hub was enlarged, a new,
custom sized key made and a collar was made to take up the gap. It is
now all in place and the compressor has not sounded so good in years.
And all of this under the threat of Hurricane Fay.
08-04-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Jul
08 has been posted.
07-31-08
- Read about "The
Impact of Selling the Federal Helium Reserve" The
link is to page 27 which discusses the catagories for helium use.
- Read about Domestic (USA) helium
data, Production and Use 2007. PDF
- We knew
and warned about the helium shortage, but no one cared.
- Liquefaction
of Helium Anniversary
07-11-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Jun
08 has been posted.
06-06-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for May
08 has been posted.
05-12-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Apr
08 has been posted.
04-11-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Mar
08 has been posted.
-The cost to replace lost
helium continues to increase. As of Aug 1,
2008, all users will pay $5.70 for each
liter not returned
through their lab gasmeter.
-As of Nov 08 the price increases to $6.50 for each lost
liter.
03-03-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Feb
08 has been posted.
02-06-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Jan
08 and for the year of 2007
have been posted.
01-04-08
-The helium Use / Loss report for Dec
07 has been posted.
12-10-07
-The price of helium will be increasing as
of Jan 1,
2008. The users in Physics will pay $0.60 for liter used by
the
lab and non-Physics users will pay $2.20.
All users will pay $4.50 for each liter
not returned
through their lab gasmeter.
-The helium Use / Loss report for Nov
07 has been posted.
11-06-07
-The helium Use / Loss report for Oct
07 has been posted.
- The Helium
Shortage continues to be a thorn in the side of most helium
users,
except for those at UF where no one has noticed. (MP3
of broadcast)
10-08-07
-The helium Use / Loss report for Sept
07 has been posted.
-The helium Use / Loss report for Aug
07 has been posted.
08-22-07
-The helium Use / Loss report for June
07 has been posted.
-The helium Use / Loss report for July
07 has been posted.
08-21-07
- The Helium
Shortage continues to be a thorn in the side of most helium
users,
except for those at UF where no one has noticed.
- Helium
Shortage 2
06-05-07
- The helium Use / Loss report for May
07 has been posted.
- A live
webcam feed has been set up to watch the Williamson Hall
loading dock so that we don't waste our
time driving
over there to
make deliveries, to find it blocked by
people who think
its OK
to park in a loading dock.
05-05-07
- The helium Use / Loss report for April
07 has been posted.
- WORLD-WIDE
HELIUM SHORTAGE and no one at UF noticed, they didn't need to.
- WORLD-WIDE
HELIUM SHORTAGE 2
04-05-07
- The helium Use / Loss report for March
07 has been posted.
03-05-07
- The helium Use / Loss report for February
07 has been posted.
02-13-07
- The helium Use / Loss report for January
07 has been posted.
01-03-07
- The helium Use / Loss report for December
06 has been posted.
- The helium Use / Loss report
for
2006 has been posted.
- The helium Use report by
building for
2006 has been posted.
- The helium Use / Loss report for the
years
1983-2006 has been updated.
- The Nitrogen Use by Lab report for 2006
has been posted.
- The Nitrogen Bought report for 1991-2006
has been updateted.
12-07-06
- The new liquid helium contract has been
dropped with
Airgas. They could not deliver the product as stated in the terms and
withdrew.
The Contract has changed to the second lowest bidder and previous
supplier
Praxair.
12-07-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for November
06 has been posted.
- A Helium
Shortage is expected. (MP3
of broadcast)
- University
of Tennessee Helium Shortage
11-09+10-06
-A visitor from Princeton University,
Goeffrey
Gettelfinger,
visited Cryogenic Services on a infomation quest. Princeton is planning
on a helium production/recovery facility and wanted to learn from an
estabilished
facility.
11-03-06
-A visitor from UCLA, Dr Jane Strouse,
visited
Cryogenic
Services on a infomation quest. UCLA is planning on a helium
production/recovery
facility and wanted to learn from an estabilished facility. Ex-UF
professor
Dr Stewart Brown is leading(?) the initiative at UCLA.
11-02-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for October
06 has been posted.
10-18-06
- The contract
for Liquid Helium, Liquid Nitrogen (delivered dewars) and cylinder
gasses
has be awarded to AirGas South. The details are few.
But one thing seems clear. A substantial price increase is coming for
you,
the liquid helium customers of Cryogenic Services. The contract starts
Nov 1, 06 and is for two years with 3 one year extensions possible. We
will need to replace all cylinders in the labs with cylinders from the
new company. We will try to do this through normal turnover, but, since
we are no longer on a contract, the old vendor can increase the rental
rates substantially. If they do, we will be removing cylinders ASAP.
Stay
tuned for more info.
10-10-06
- WORLD-WIDE
HELIUM SHORTAGE (mp3
of Broadcast) and no one at UF noticed. I have direct
knowledge
of
shortages at FSU, UCLA, PNL.
10-05-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for September
06 has been posted.
09-07-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for August
06 has been posted.
08-07-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for June
06 and July
06 have been posted. The monthly
usage chart and the transport ratios 05-0606-07
charts have been updated.
06-07-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for May
06 has been posted.
05-07-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for April
06 has been posted.
04-07-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for March
06 has been posted. The monthly
usage chart and the transport
ratios charts have been updated.
03-03-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for February
06 has been posted.
02-06-06
- The Liquid Nitrogen Purchased Graph for
the Year
2005 has been posted.
- The Liquid Nitrogen Use by Lab Graph for
the Year
2005 has been posted.
02-02-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for Year
2005 has been posted.
- The helium Use / Loss report for January
06 has been posted.
02-01-06
- The helium recovery line from Rhines
Hallhas been
replaced
and is fully functional.
01-18-06
- PPD pierced through the helium recovery
line from
Rhines
Hall. All recovery from that building will be lost untill that line is
replaced.
01-12-06
- The helium Use / Loss report for December
05 has been posted.
12-12-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for November
05 has been posted.
11-12-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for October
05 has been posted.
10-12-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for September
05 has been posted.
09-22-05
- Added FAQs
to the website.
09-12-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for August
05 has been posted.
08-15-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for July
05 has been posted.
07-01-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for June
05 has been posted.
06-10-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for May
05 has been posted.
05-12-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for April
05 has been posted.
04-22-05
- The helium
request form has been upgraded and improved. Please use it as
the
preferred
method for requesting helim.
04-08-05
-We have finished a major overhaul of the
liquefier
increasing
its output from 27 lL/hr to over 50 lL/hr which exceeds its rated
designed
output.
- The helium Use / Loss report for March
05 has been posted.
- The helium Use / Loss report for February
05 has been posted.
- The helium Use / Loss report for January
05 has been posted.
01-20-05
- The helium Use / Loss report for December
04 has been posted.
- The helium Use / Loss report for the
year 2004
has been posted.
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Cryogenic
Sevices
at the University of Florida
in the Department
of Physics
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contact
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