How to Distinguish High-purity Helium from Ordinary Helium?

Helium, as the second most abundant element in the universe, plays an important role in many fields with its unique physical and chemical properties. Among them, although high-purity helium and ordinary helium are both helium, they have significant differences in purity, application and performance characteristics.

Helium, as the second most abundant element in the universe, plays an important role in many fields with its unique physical and chemical properties. Among them, although high-purity helium and ordinary helium are both helium, they have significant differences in purity, application and performance characteristics.

First of all, helium is a chemical element with atomic number 2, very low density, colorless, odorless and non-flammable. Helium is mainly used in cooling, heating, aerospace, semiconductor manufacturing, gas analysis and other fields, and is widely used in scientific research and industrial production.

In terms of gas source, ordinary helium mainly comes from helium in natural gas, which is obtained through separation and purification. Helium mainly exists in underground oil and gas fields and underground water sources. Its main component is helium-4 isotope, with a content of approximately 0.0005% of the gas. Ordinary helium gas undergoes an industrial purification process to remove moisture, oxygen, nitrogen, impurities, etc., and then ordinary helium gas with higher purity can be obtained.

High-purity helium has a higher purity, usually referring to a purity of more than 99.999% (five "nines" of purity). High-purity helium is mainly used in scientific research and industrial production, such as nuclear magnetic resonance, superconducting magnets, lasers, semiconductor manufacturing and other fields. High-purity helium generally undergoes further fine separation and purification processes to remove more impurities and control isotope ratios to meet helium purity requirements in specific fields.

Secondly, in terms of purity, high-purity helium is usually purer than ordinary helium. Purity is usually measured by standards such as "five nines" (99.999%), "six nines" (99.9999%), and "seven nines" (99.99999%). The higher purity requirement for high-purity helium is because in some application fields, such as semiconductor manufacturing and nuclear magnetic resonance, even the presence of trace impurities may have a significant impact on product performance and experimental results.

Thirdly, high-purity helium and ordinary helium are also different in application fields. Ordinary helium is mainly used in ordinary welding, laser cutting, ductile iron gas shielded welding technology and other fields. In these fields, the purity requirements for helium are relatively low, and ordinary helium can already meet most of the needs. High-purity helium is used in some high-tech fields, such as optical fiber manufacturing, superconducting scientific research, nuclear energy research, semiconductor manufacturing, etc.

In addition to purity and application fields, high-purity helium and ordinary helium also differ in performance characteristics. High-purity helium has the characteristics of stable chemical properties, excellent thermal conductivity and low density. Its chemical stability makes it difficult for high-purity helium to react chemically with other substances, thus ensuring its stability and reliability in experiments and industrial production processes. At the same time, the thermal conductivity of high-purity helium is also extremely excellent, far exceeding that of air, which makes it have broad application prospects in refrigeration equipment, semiconductor production, nuclear engineering and other fields. In addition, the low density advantage of high-purity helium also makes it play a diluting role in gas mixtures, which can effectively reduce the density and fluid resistance of the mixed gas.