Proposed Helium Recovery System for the UofT/Sick Kids Biomolecular NMR Facility

拟议的多伦多大学/Sick Kids 生物分子 NMR 设施的氦气回收系统

• 批准号: RTI-2023-00357
• 负责人: Kay, Lewis
• 金额: $ 10.93万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=761242
• 关键词: Proposed; Helium; Recovery; System; UofT

Helium is a precious, non-renewable resource used in a variety of industries, and is on Canada's list of materials considered critical for the sustainable economic and technological success of the country (www.nrca.gc.ca). In its extremely cold liquid state, helium is also absolutely required for the superconducting magnets employed in modern Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). In early 2022, a number of industry and geopolitical events conspired to cause the 4th major global helium supply crisis, "He4.0". This crisis, the most serious to date, has resulted in dramatic volatility in helium supply, and an approximate doubling of the contracted price of liquid helium in the last year alone, and ~300% increase since 2018, thus jeopardizing the immediate futures of academic NMR facilities.     The Biomolecular NMR facility (NMRF) at the University of Toronto/Sick Kids is the highest profile facility of its kind in Canada, and one of the top two or three in the world. It includes 10 NMR spectrometers ranging from 500 MHz to 1 GHz. The GHz magnet is unique in Canada, and the highest field NMR magnet in the country. The NMRF is shared between three faculty members who are world leaders in biomolecular NMR, particularly the structure and dynamics of large biomolecular systems, intrinsically disordered proteins, and condensates important to health and disease. Data from the NMRF over three decades has fueled the publication of over 670 research papers, and the NMRF supports over 20 HQPs at any given time. Moreover, a very high percentage (~80%) of post-doctoral scientists who have trained in the NMRF have successfully attained faculty positions at major research-intensive universities and institutes in Canada and world-wide.     In the helium recovery system (HeRS) proposed here, helium gas from individual magnets in the facility, exhausted passively or during regular magnet fills, would be collected in a common pipeline leading to a compressor, purifier, and ultimately helium liquefier for reliquefaction. The highly pure, reliquefied helium would then be ready for scheduled transfer back into the magnets. The HeRS would be capable of capturing and recycling helium at an ~90% rate, thereby offering an efficient and cost effective (quick return on investment) means of conserving this precious element. Moreover, the proposed HeRS would ensure the long-term future of the NMRF by significantly reducing exposure to volatility in the global helium market and dependence on suppliers. The HeRS would provide trainees in the NMRF valuable instruction on helium recycling, critical for the future establishment of academic NMR research facilities. Finally, the proposed HeRS could also serve as a future helium liquefaction hub for other NMR groups in its immediate vicinity.

氦气是一种宝贵的不可再生资源，用于各种行业，并且被认为是加拿大可持续经济和技术成功的关键材料清单（www.nrca.gc.ca）。在其极冷的液态状态下，氦也是现代核磁共振（NMR）光谱学和磁共振成像（MRI）中使用的超导磁体所绝对需要的。2022年初，一系列行业和地缘政治事件共同引发了第四次全球氦气供应危机——“He4.0”。这场迄今为止最严重的危机导致了氦供应的剧烈波动，仅去年一年，液氦的合同价格就几乎翻了一番，自2018年以来增长了约300%，从而危及了学术核磁共振设施的近期未来。多伦多大学/Sick Kids的生物分子核磁共振设施（NMRF）是加拿大同类设施中最引人注目的设施，也是世界上排名前二或前三的设施之一。它包括10个核磁共振光谱仪，范围从500 MHz到1 GHz。GHz磁体在加拿大是独一无二的，也是该国最高场核磁共振磁体。NMRF由三位教员共享，他们在生物分子核磁共振方面处于世界领先地位，特别是在大型生物分子系统的结构和动力学、内在无序蛋白质和对健康和疾病重要的凝聚体方面。NMRF在过去三十年中的数据已经推动了670多篇研究论文的发表，并且NMRF在任何给定时间支持超过20个hqp。此外，在NMRF接受过培训的博士后科学家中，有非常高的比例（~80%）成功地在加拿大和世界各地的主要研究型大学和研究所获得了教职。在这里提出的氦气回收系统（HeRS）中，来自设施中单个磁铁的氦气，被动地或在常规磁铁填充期间被耗尽，将被收集在一个公共管道中，该管道通向压缩机、净化器，并最终用于再液化的氦气液化器。然后，高纯度、再液化的氦就可以按计划转移回磁铁中。HeRS将能够以90%的比率捕获和回收氦气，从而提供一种高效且具有成本效益（快速投资回报）的方法来保护这种珍贵的元素。此外，拟议的HeRS将通过显著减少全球氦市场波动和对供应商的依赖，确保NMRF的长期未来。HeRS将为NMRF的学员提供有关氦回收的宝贵指导，这对未来建立学术核磁共振研究设施至关重要。最后，提议的HeRS还可以作为其附近其他核磁共振组的未来氦液化中心。