Yourquestionsansweredon:
BALLOON
GAS
Whattoknowwhatballoongasisandwhere
itcomesfrom?Readon.
Best
Practice
Initiative
THE
EUROPEAN
BALLOON &
PARTY
COUNCIL
Industry leading voice in Europe
•
•
•
•
Heliumwasfirstdiscoveredin1868inthesun’scorona
Thenameisderivedfrom‘Helios’whichmeans‘sun’inGreek
Ithasaboilingpointof-268.9Celsius,iscolorlessandodorlessand
completelyunreactive
It’stheonlygaslighterthanairexceptforhydrogen– whichishighly
flammable
Ithasmanyusesincluding:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
MRImedicalscannerstocoolsuperconductingmagnets
LargeHadronCollider(coolingapplication)
NMRspectrometers(coolingapplication)
Satelliteinstruments(coolingapplication)
Decorativeballoons
Weatherballoons
Airships
Providesinertatmosphereformanufacturingfibreoptics&semi
conductors
InertatmosphereforArcwelding
Detectingleaksinvehicleairconditioning
Inflateairbagsinvehicles
Providesartificialatmospherefordeepseadiving
Helium-neonlasersforbarcodescanners
Newlydevelopinghelium-ionmicroscope
He
Heliumisa
uniquegas,
herearesome
factsabout
theelement.
Balloongasisamixtureof
mainlyheliumandsome
atmosphericgases.Itis
predominantlyabyproduct
oftheheliumgasindustry
andcannotbeusedin
scienceandacademic
applications.
Whereis
balloongas
obtained
from?
Balloongasispredominantly
aby-productfromother
fillingapplications
Heliumforballoongasisobtainedinthesamewayasforother
heliumapplications:heliumisextractedfromminingnaturalgas
fieldsorCO2fieldsandliquefiedbeforebeingshippedintothe
market.Heliumisthensoldineitherliquidform(incontainersor
dewars)orgaseousform(intubetrailers,bundlesorcylinders)
andinavarietyofpuritiestomeetsupplyneeds.Gaseoushelium
usedinballoonsistheproductwiththelowestconcentrationof
heliumofallthepureheliumproducts.
Forsomegasmanufacturers- balloongasissimplyaby-product
frombottlingheliumandotherindustrialappliancesandwould
haveotherwisebeenwasted.Insteadoflosingthegasto
atmosphere,itiscapturedandsoldasballoongasandnot
heliumduetoit'shighlevelofimpurity.
Thesimpleanswerisno– itisnotawaste.
Ascylindersofpureheliumarefilled,theescapedgascollectsina
domewithmixtureofair,whichiscapturedandcompressedinto
cylindersforballoons,whilstsomemanufacturerscapturethis
heliumwhenfillingMRIscanners.Manufacturershavestatedthat
theyconsiderthiswastedheliumasa‘recycledproduct’asitwould
havebeenlosttotheenvironmenthaditnotbeencapturedandrepurposed.
Iftheballoonmarketdemanddeclined,manufacturerswouldhave
tore-evaluateothermarketsandconsiderthepossibilitiesofreliquefyingit.Re-liquefyingiscurrentlyconsidereduneconomical
fromthelocationofwherethefillingapplicationstakeplace.
Let’snotforgetthattheballoonmarketisonlyoneapplicationand
makesuplessthan10%oftheworldwideheliummarket,thereare
thusseveralotherapplicationsthatusehelium.
Isitawasteto
useiton
balloons?
Manufacturershavestated
thattheyconsiderthis
wastedheliumasa‘recycled
product’asitwouldhave
beenlosttothe
environmenthaditnotbeen
capturedandre-purposed.
Canwe
recycleit
insteadof
usingiton
balloons?
Theexpenseofcapturing
andpurifyingtheescaped
heliumfaroutweighswhatit
canbesoldfor.
Sincetheheliumshortageendedendof2013thereiscurrentlyno
moreallocationbetweenheliumapplications,thatistosayno
competitionbetweenapplicationstobesuppliedwithhelium.
However,recyclingheliumispossibleifnecessary.
Someheliumclientsre-liquefytheheliumonsitetodecrease
dependencyonexternalpurchases.Forfixedplantthisworkswell
asaprocessandbecomeseconomicallyviableoveranumberof
years.
Mostmanufacturerscouldpotentiallyrecycleheliumbutthe
logisticsofdoingthiswouldbetoodifficultanduneconomical.The
expenseofcapturingandpurifyingtheescapedheliumfar
outweighswhatitcanbesoldfor.Inordertocaptureandpurifythe
gas,thecostoftransportingtheby-productbacktotheirplant,cost
ofre-compressionand/orre-liquefyingagainsttheoriginalcostsof
productioncurrentlymakethisoptionunviable.
Globalpurityforballoongasisaround95%helium.ALbee Fly,
Helibal,Helial, Carbalon,Ballongas,Ballonal,Helihi arejustsome
ofbrandnamesforballoongas.Othermaincomponentsof
balloongasarenitrogenandoxygen.
Somemanufacturershaveadvisedusthattheirballoongashasa
mixtureofhelium,O2,nitrogen&tracesofair(atmospheregases
notintentionallyadded).Margininpurityforballoonheliumcan
bequitelarge butaminimumof92%isrequiredfortheballoonto
float.Forsomebottlingmanufacturers– purityismeasuredat
bottlingpointandagascertificateissentwiththecylindersifa
specialmixtureisrequested.
What%of
helium
balloongasis
actually
heliumand
whatelseisin
it?
Somemanufacturershave
advisedusthattheirballoon
gashasamixtureofhelium,
O2,nitrogen&tracesofair.
Whycan’twe
useitin
scienceand
academia
applications
instead?
Forsomescientific
applicationsinparticular,
heliumpurityrequiredcan
be99.9999%andnearly
reach100%purityforliquid
application(at-269°C)–
balloongasisfarshortof
this.
Dependingontheapplication,thequalityandpurityofhelium
requiredvaries.Forsomescientificapplicationsinparticular,helium
purityrequiredcanbe99.9999%andnearlyreach100%purityfor
liquidapplication(at-269°C)– balloongasisfarshortofthis.Again,
heliumshortageendedendof2013,sonopriorityissetasforwhere
heliumshouldbeused.
Thereisnothingstoppingscienceandacademicinstitutionsusingthis
exceptthepremiumcostofre-processingtheimpureheliumtopure
heliumashighpurityisrequiredinscienceandacademia.
Thisisdifficulttopredictasitdependsonsupplyanddemand– butno
shortageisanticipated.
Onemanufacturerhasadvisedustheydonotforeseeanyendtohelium
availability.Asanexample,amajornewheliumgasfieldhasbeen
discoveredinTanzaniainJune2016.Itsestimatedheliumresourcesmay
beabletosupply8yearsofthecurrentworldwideannualhelium
consumption.Thishasbeendiscoveredusinganewdetectiontechnique
whichwillfocusonfindingnewheliumreservesinsteadofobtaining
heliumfromminingnaturalgas.
Anothermanufacturerasadvisedusthattoestimatetheamountof
heliumreservesisdifficult.Someofthisisdependentonfindingnew
reservessuchasrecentlyfoundinRussiaandQatar(in2014),aswellas
howweuseheliumi.e.supplyanddemand.Ithasbeensuggestedthat
oneparticularprojectofheliumdiscoverywillproducethelargest
reservesofheliumthatwillbeseen.
Inadditiontothis,someapplicationswhereheliumwasbeingusedare
beingdevelopedtousealternativegasessuchas:
• HefreeMRIscannerscurrentlybeingdeveloped
• HefreeairbagswhereArgonvanbeusedasasubstitution
Howmuch
heliumdowe
haveandare
werunning
out?
Thisisdifficulttopredictas
itdependsonsupplyand
demand– butnoshortageis
anticipated.
Respect
helium
Checkcylindersfordamage
&neverinhalehelium
Balloongasshouldonlybeusedasit’smeanttobeused– inballoons.
Inhalingheliummayappeartoprovidefunandentertainmentbut
risksassociatedcanbefatal.
Ouradviceistoalwaysplayitsafe:
•
•
•
Neveruseaballoongascanisterthatappearstobedamaged.If
youdohaveonewithsignsofdamage– pleasereturnittothe
retailerwherepurchasedandaskforarefundorexchange.
Heliuminhalationcanbeverydangerousandresultinasphyxiation
asthebodybecomesdeprivedofoxygen.Unfortunatelythereare
afewreportedcaseswhereheliuminhalationhasresultedin
fatality.
Onlyuseofficialballoongasforballooninflation.Othergasescan
bedangerousandleadtoseriousinjuries.
Retailersshouldensurethatballoongasisonlysoldtopersonsover
theageof18.
Brought to you by
The European Balloon & Party Council
DISCLAIMER
TheEBPCacceptsnoresponsibilityorliability
whatsoeverwithregardtotheinformationinthis
document.Thisinformationis:
[email protected]
|
www.ebpcouncil.eu
+44(0)1279 888388
Leading industry voice in Europe
• Ofageneralnatureonlyandisnotintendedto
addressthespecificcircumstancesofany
particularindividualorentity;
• Sometimesreferstoexternalinformationover
whichtheEBPChavenocontrolandforwhichthe
EBPCassumesnoresponsibility;
• Anystatisticsanddataareforguidanceonlyand
couldchangewithoutnoticeundercircumstances
beyondourcontrol;
• Notintendedtoprovideanylegaladviceandis
generalguidanceonly.
Best
Practice
Initiative
Industry leading voice in Europe
Oct2016v1.3
|