Helium Recovery Systems

Short Description:

High-purity helium is a critical gas for the fiber optic industry. However, helium is extremely scarce on Earth, geographically unevenly distributed, and a non-renewable resource with a high and fluctuating price. In the production of fiber optic preforms, large amounts of helium with a purity of 99.999% (5N) or higher are used as a carrier gas and protective gas. This helium is directly discharged into the atmosphere after use, resulting in a huge waste of helium resources. To address this issue, Shanghai LifenGas Co., Ltd. has developed a helium recovery system to recapture the helium gas originally emitted into the atmosphere, helping enterprises reduce production costs.

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Main Applications

Helium is widely used in fiber optic manufacturing processes:
As a carrier gas in the fiber optic preform deposition process;
To remove residual impurities from porous bodies (dehydrogenation) in the preform dehydration and sintering process;
As a heat transfer gas in the high-speed drawing process of optical fibers, etc.

Main Processes

The helium recovery system is primarily divided into five subsystems: gas collection, chlorine removal, compression, buffering and purification, cryogenic purification, and product gas supply.

A collector is installed on the exhaust system of each sintering furnace, which collects the waste gas and sends it to an alkali washing column to remove most of the chlorine. The washed gas is then compressed by a compressor to the process pressure and enters a high-pressure tank for buffering. Air-cooled coolers are provided before and after the compressor to cool the gas and ensure normal compressor operation. The compressed gas enters a dehydrogenator, where hydrogen reacts with oxygen to form water through catalyst catalysis. Free water is then removed in a water separator, and the remaining water and CO2 in the exhaust gas are reduced to less than 1 ppm by a purifier. The helium purified by the front-end process enters the cryogenic purification system, which removes the remaining impurities using the principle of cryogenic fraction, ultimately producing high-purity helium that meets GB standards. The qualified high-purity helium gas in the product storage tank is transported to the customer's gas consumption point through a high-purity gas filter, high-purity gas pressure reducing valve, mass flow meter, check valve, and pipeline.

Technical Advantages

-Advanced recovery technology with purification efficiency of not less than 95 percent and total recovery rate of not less than 70 percent; recovered helium meets national high-purity helium standards;
- High degree of equipment integration and small footprint;
- Short return on investment cycle, helping enterprises significantly reduce production costs;
- Environmentally friendly, reducing consumption of non-renewable resources for sustainable development.