MRI: Acquisition of Helium Recovery Equipment: An integrated system for helium capture and recovery for the Oregon State University NMR facility

俄勒冈州立大学（OSU）获得了一份合同，为俄勒冈州立大学的核磁共振（NMR）设施购买和安装一个用于氦捕获和回收的集成系统。氦是一种惰性气体，是元素周期表中唯一不能再生的元素。氦通常与天然气一起开采，一旦释放到地球大气中，就会流失到外太空。氦气需求量很大，因为它用于工业和研究中的各种应用，包括半导体的生产、量子计算机的操作、核磁共振成像（MRI）等医疗设备的冷却和核磁共振光谱仪等研究设备的冷却。不幸的是，氦气供应不稳定，导致价格大幅波动和供应有限的时期。因此，研究人员尽可能地回收氦是很重要的。俄勒冈州立大学的核磁共振设备每年使用超过1000升(L)的液氦来维持其五台核磁共振光谱仪，其中包括俄勒冈州最高的两台现场光谱仪。该设施为俄勒冈州立大学和其他学术机构（主要是本科院校）提供核磁共振波谱的访问和支持，并为太平洋西北地区的工业用户提供支持。这项工作将支持150多个用户及其相关的研究项目，这些项目涵盖生物化学、化学、环境科学、材料科学、食品科学、农业科学、林业和工程等领域的广泛科学研究。氦气回收的原理将被纳入俄勒冈州立大学科学学院提供的核磁共振课程和其他课程的设施主任提供的客座讲座中。核磁共振设施经常为未来的学生和游客提供参观，氦回收将在这些参观中得到强调。减少液氦采购所节省的成本将用于支持使用NMR设备的高风险、高回报的试点项目。通过减少我们的氦气，增加的氦气将继续用于其他关键服务，如医疗磁共振成像。该项目将允许俄勒冈州立大学核磁共振设施捕获和回收用于冷却设施中超导核磁共振磁体的氦气，并确保这些仪器的持续运行。在核磁共振光谱仪每年使用的超过1000升的液氦中，该项目将实现至少90%的回收利用。这将极大地隔离设施和它的仪器从氦供应中断，这是越来越频繁地发生。为了达到如此高的效率，该系统将在液氦补充和正常操作期间捕获氦气。该项目还将研究从距离主要设施太远的仪器中捕获和运输氦气的可行性，这些仪器无法通过管道直接捕获氦气。我们称之为“分布式恢复”，这是一种技术数据有限的应用程序。这些结果将为确定分布式氦气回收的可行性奠定基础，为小型机构提供氦气回收的途径。该项目将支持多项正在进行的生物学研究，包括Hippo信号通路、运动蛋白功能机制、病毒复制和膜修复。该项目还支持材料科学研究，开发用于碳捕获、环境修复、电池和精细化学品合成的新化学物质的新材料。该项目的结果将在NMR设施网站上公开发布，并在适当的时候通过同行评审的出版物发布。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

An award has been made to Oregon State University (OSU) to acquire and install an integrated system for helium capture and recovery for the OSU nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility. Helium is an inert gas and is the only element in the periodic table that is a non-renewal resource. Helium is mined, often with natural gas, and once released into the Earth’s atmosphere, it is lost to outer space. Helium is in high demand because it is used for a variety of applications in industry and research, including production of semi-conductors, operation of quantum computers, cooling medical equipment like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cooling research equipment like NMR spectrometers. Unfortunately, helium supply is volatile, leading to wide price fluctuations and periods of limited availability. Therefore, it is important that researchers recycle helium whenever possible. OSU’s NMR facility uses over 1000 liters (L) of liquid helium annually to maintain its five NMR spectrometers, including the two highest field spectrometers in Oregon. The facility provides access and support for NMR spectroscopy to OSU and other academic institutions including primarily undergraduate institutions, and we support industrial users across the Pacific Northwest region. This effort will support over 150 users and their associated research projects, which span a wide array of scientific investigations in the fields of biochemistry, chemistry, environmental science, materials science, food science, agricultural science, forestry, and engineering. The principles of helium recovery will be incorporated into NMR classes offered by the OSU College of Science and in guest lectures provided by the facility Director in other classes. The NMR facility frequently offers tours to prospective students and visitors, and helium recovery will be highlighted during these tours. Cost savings from reduced liquid helium purchases will be used to support high-risk, high-reward pilot projects that use the NMR facility. By reducing our helium, increased helium will remain available for use by other critical services, such as medical MRI.This project will allow the OSU NMR facility to capture and recycle the helium used to cool the superconducting NMR magnets in the facility and ensures the ongoing operation of these instruments. Of the more than 1000 L of liquid helium used annually by the NMR spectrometers, this project will enable recycling of at least 90%. This will greatly insulate the facility and its instrumentation from helium supply disruptions, which are happening with increasing frequency. To achieve this high level of efficiency, the system will capture helium during both liquid helium refills and normal operations. This project will also examine the feasibility of capturing and transporting helium from instruments located too far from the main facility to perform direct capture via piping. We call this ‘distributed recovery’, an application for which there is limited technical data available. These results will lay the foundation for determining the feasibility of distributed helium recovery, which could provide access to helium recovery for smaller institutions. This project will support multiple ongoing research efforts in biology that are investigating the Hippo signaling pathway, mechanisms of motor protein function, viral replication, and membrane repair. The project also supports research in materials science, developing new materials for carbon capture, environmental remediation, batteries and new chemistry for the synthesis of fine chemicals. The results of the project will be made publicly available on the NMR facility website and through peer-reviewed publications when appropriate.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.