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

在化学系（CHE）的化学测量和成像计划，刺激竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）以及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，路易斯安那州立大学的Richard Kurtz教授和他的多学科团队正在开发从液氦中回收和再利用蒸发气体的能力，不可再生资源。液氦可以实现广泛的低温技术，对超导仪器至关重要。至关重要的是，社区采取行动，以保护和回收氦从这些仪器的蒸发，使新的发现，以改善社会的智力和身体健康可以继续下去。 该项目将允许从路易斯安那州立大学化学系的核磁共振（NMR）设施以及先进微结构和器件中心（CAMD）同步加速器光源回收氦气。 从这些设施中蒸发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气回收和液化中心，以重新液化并返回再利用。 LSU NMR设施中的超导磁体和LSU CAMD同步加速器中的两个超导插入装置每年共同消耗大量的液氦，所有这些液氦目前都因蒸发而损失。该氦气回收项目涉及在每个站点安装设备，包括气体收集袋，压缩机和回收气体歧管，以捕获氦气蒸发，用于再液化和再利用。 将监测预期的高回收率并向NSF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多个受液氦成本和可用性影响的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知识价值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.