Equipment: Helium Recovery Equipment: to Expand the LSU Liquefaction Center

路易斯安那州立大学的理查德·库尔茨教授和他的多学科团队在化学系(CHE)的化学测量和成像计划、既定的竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)和分子和细胞生物科学系(MCB)的分子生物物理学计划的支持下，正在开发从液氦中回收和再利用沸腾气体的能力。液氦能够实现广泛的低温技术，对超导仪器至关重要。至关重要的是，社区必须采取行动，保存和回收这些仪器沸腾后产生的氦，以便能够继续进行新的发现，以改善社会的智力和身体健康。该项目将允许从路易斯安那州立大学化学系的核磁共振(核磁共振)设施以及先进微结构和器件中心(CAMD)同步辐射光源中回收氦。从这些设施中沸腾出来的氦气将被收集、压缩，并运输到路易斯安那州立大学现有的物理系氦回收和液化中心，重新液化并返回重复使用。路易斯安那州立大学核磁共振设施中的超导磁体和路易斯安那州立大学CAMD同步加速器的两个超导插入设备每年总共消耗大量液氦，目前所有这些液氦都因沸腾而损失。这个氦回收项目包括在每个地点安装设备，包括气体收集袋、压缩机和回收气体歧管，以捕获这些氦沸腾，以便重新液化和重复使用。预计的高恢复率将受到监测，并向国家科学基金会报告。该项目将显著改善我们对这一有限资源的管理，预计节省的资金将支持受液氦成本和可获得性影响的多个NSF资助项目。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry (CHE), the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and the Molecular Biophysics Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), Professor Richard Kurtz and his multidisciplinary team at Louisiana State University are developing the capability to recover and reuse the boil-off gas from liquid helium, a non-renewable resource. Liquid helium enables a broad range of low temperature technologies and is crucial to superconducting instrumentation. It is essential that the community move to conserve and recycle helium from the boil-off of these instruments so that new discoveries to improve the intellectual and physical wellbeing of society can continue. This project will allow recovery of helium from the LSU Chemistry Department’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility as well as the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices (CAMD) synchrotron light source. The boil-off helium gas from these facilities will be collected, compressed, and transported to the LSU’s existing Physics Department Helium Recovery and Liquefaction Center to be re-liquefied and returned for re-use. The superconducting magnets in the LSU NMR facility and the two superconducting insertion devices at the LSU CAMD synchrotron collectively consume a significant volume of liquid helium per year, all of which is currently lost to boil-off. This helium recovery project involves the installation of equipment at each site consisting of gas collection bags, compressors, and recovery gas manifolds to capture this helium boil-off for reliquefaction and re-use. The high rate of recovery expected will be monitored and reported back to NSF. This project will significantly improve our stewardship of this limited resource and the anticipated savings will support multiple NSF-funded programs impacted by the cost and availability of liquid helium.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.