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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 In over 26 years we have been  getting by with other people's hand me downs and second hand compressors that were so out of date that the only way to get parts for them was to scavange parts off of the other ones that were more broken or we had replacement parts made by our Machine shop.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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