Sinopec has made a major breakthrough in helium purification technology with a purity of 99.999% and an annual output of more than 20 tons.
CTOnews.com, November 30, Sinopec announced that the first helium purification unit developed by Sinopec was successfully driven in Chongqing Petroleum LNG Plant and successfully produced qualified high purity helium. The project can produce 99.999% high-purity helium more than 20 tons per year.
Helium is widely used in aerospace, electronic industry, biomedical and other high-tech fields because of its low density, low boiling point, good thermal conductivity and stable chemical properties. However, China's helium resources are very poor, helium extraction technology is relatively backward, more than 95% of helium resources rely on imports.
At present, the resources of helium with practical application value only come from natural gas containing helium, so it is necessary to purify and utilize helium effectively. Because the composition of natural gas tail gas is complex, and the kinetic diameters of methane, nitrogen and helium are very close, so it is very difficult to extract helium.
According to reports, this helium purification project adopts key technologies such as efficient deep dehydrogenation and membrane helium separation independently developed by Sinopec Beijing Chemical Research Institute, realizing innovation and breakthrough from process development to industrial application technology. At present, the Beijing Chemical Institute has applied for 14 Chinese invention patents and 2 foreign-related patents for related technologies. CTOnews.com learned that the helium of the project came from the Chongqing Petroleum LNG plant, which turned waste into treasure by purifying the tail gas of the plant with high helium and hydrogen content, producing 99.999% of helium products.
In the next step, Sinopec will develop iterative processes according to the characteristics of low abundance of helium resources in China, continue to reduce the energy consumption of complete processes, enhance stability, continuously enhance China's helium production capacity, and strive to meet the needs of China's economic development.
