Crude Helium Refining Technologies
摘要
The crude helium extracted from helium-containing natural gas has a helium content lower than 97.5%, with small amounts of hydrocarbons, nitrogen, hydrogen, and trace amounts of neon, among other impurities. To make higher-purity helium products, these impurities must be removed to achieve the required purity of the helium product. The process of removing impurities from crude helium to obtain helium products is known as helium refining technology, which generally includes catalytic dehydrogenation or adsorptive dehydrogenation technology for hydrogen removal, pressure swing adsorption or temperature swing adsorption technology for removing nitrogen and hydrocarbon impurities, as well as low-temperature adsorption or low-temperature pressure swing adsorption technology for removing neon and other impurities. Different helium resources and extraction methods can result in varying compositions and concentrations of impurities in crude helium. Therefore, the process flow and technology combination for crude helium refining need to be determined based on the specific composition and concentration of impurities in crude helium, as well as the quality requirements of the helium product.