Switching from Helium as a Carrier Gas: Can You Afford Not To?

Helium is a non-renewable element formed over billions of years via radioactive decay of Uranium 238, primarily extracted as a byproduct of natural gas via cryogenic distillation. It is indispensable across several sectors, with applications in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) cooling, as well as lifting gas (balloons and blimps), semiconductors, space applications, welding, and gas chromatography (GC), with chromatographic and spectroscopic uses accounting for approximately 15% of global usage (1). Despite global helium reserves estimated at 31.3 billion m³ (2)—enough for over 180 years at current usage (3)—frequent localized shortages persist, driven not by immediate scarcity but by production issues and geopolitical instability.