Helium Extraction from Carbon-Dioxide-Rich Pipelines

The National Helium Reserve is dwindling and new methods of helium extraction are required to meet global demand. The goal of this project is to design a system to produce helium with purity greater than 99 percent from industrial carbon dioxide pipelines with high helium concentrations. The team’s solution is to feed the pipeline gas through a catalytic converter and pressure swing adsorption unit to remove most of the water and hydrogen sulfide. A compressor and condenser then remove carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons, leaving mostly helium and nitrogen, which is further compressed and condensed until liquefied. The stream then enters two distillation columns in series, which separate the helium from the nitrogen. The final product is high-grade helium, which is liquefied ready for transportation, and a separate stream of hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide that can be fed back into the pipeline.