Sinopec has made a major breakthrough in helium purification technology

On November 30, it was learned from the Information Office of Sinopec that recently, the first helium purification unit independently developed by Sinopec was successfully started up at the Chongqing Petroleum LNG Plant, and successfully produced qualified high-purity helium
.
The project can produce more than
20 tons of 99.
999% high-purity helium per year.

Helium has the characteristics of low density, low boiling point, good thermal conductivity and stable chemical properties, and is widely used in aerospace, electronics industry, biomedical and other high-tech fields
.
However, China's helium resources are quite poor, helium extraction technology is relatively backward, more than 95% of helium resources rely on imports
.

At present, helium resources with practical application value only come from helium-containing natural gas, and helium needs to be effectively purified and utilized
.
Due to the complex composition of natural gas tail gas, the kinetic diameters of methane, nitrogen and helium molecules are very close, so helium extraction is very difficult
.

This helium purification project adopts key technologies such as high-efficiency deep dehydrogenation and membrane helium separation independently developed by Sinopec Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry, and realizes innovation and breakthroughs
from process development to industrial application technology.
At present, Beihua Institute has applied for 14 Chinese invention patents and 2 foreign-related
patents for related technologies.
The helium of the project comes from the Chongqing Petroleum LNG Plant, and through the purification of the high helium and high hydrogen content plant tail gas, it turns waste into treasure, and produces 99.
999% helium products
.

Over the years, Sinopec has focused on key core technology breakthroughs by organizing the "Ten Dragons" scientific and technological breakthroughs
.
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 sets of processes, improve stability, continue to improve China's helium production capacity, and strive to meet the needs of
China's economic development.