Hannibal Hanschke / EPA
Qatar’s helium is produced at its facility in Ras Laffan – the largest liquefied natural gas plant in the world
The loss of 30% of the world’s helium could have serious consequences for science, medicine, technology and industry. Despite being the second most abundant element in the universe, it is extremely rare on Earth.
The war in the Middle East has disrupted the world’s helium supply. Qatar produces about 1/3 of global helium, but attacks on its gas infrastructure have forced production to be suspended.
At the same time, Iran is blocking the , one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, through which Qatar exports both natural gas and helium. THE loss of 30% of the world’s helium could have serious consequences for science, medicine and industry.
Helium is used to cool superconducting magnets used us magnetic resonance deviceswhich help diagnose diseases through high-resolution, three-dimensional images of human tissues.
Os superconducting magnets allow maintaining the intense and continuous currents necessary to obtain high-resolution images.
A superconductor is a material that conducts electricity without resistance, that is, without opposition to the passage of electric current. For this to be possible, however, the magnets must work at extremely low temperatures.
Helium is the ideal cooling fluid for these magnets because it has the lowest boiling point of all elements: -268.9 °C. At or below this temperature, helium is in a liquid state and can be used to wrap the magnetic coils of MRI machines.
Some particle accelerators, such as Large Hadron Colliderfrom CERN in Geneva, also use liquid helium to cool their superconducting magnets. These magnets are used to deflect and control proton beams.
Os quantum computer processors they also need to be cooled to similarly low temperatures to function, and here too, helium is the cooling fluid of choice.
Helium is also used in computer chip production to displace oxygen and moisture within manufacturing facilities, where conditions are strictly controlled to prevent contamination of delicate microprocessors,
The element is even used as a cooling fluid during the high-temperature phases of chip production. Among them is the recording processin which unwanted material is removed from semiconductor wafers — the substrates on which circuits are assembled.
In space rockets, this non-flammable gas It is used to purge fuel lines and to pressurize fuel tanks. Welding and fiber optic production require helium to create inert, controlled environments.
The value of helium results from physical properties very difficult to replace. In addition to its low boiling point, which makes it an excellent cooling fluid, helium is inert and extremely light. Its tiny molecules make it ideal for detecting the smallest leaks in ducts and equipment.
Despite being the second most abundant element in the universehelium is extremely rare on Earth.
It forms underground over billions of years from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium, and, because it is lighter than aireasily escapes into the atmosphere and then into space, which makes this element, in practice, non-renewable.
Unlike most resources, helium is rarely produced autonomously. In Qatar and other countries, helium is obtained as a by-product of production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which means that helium supplies depends entirely on natural gas production: when gas production decreases, helium production also decreases.
This is exactly what happened in Qatarwhere attacks on gas facilities halted both gas and helium production.
A exporting helium is not simple. It requires highly specialized cryogenic containers to keep it at extremely low temperatures during transport.
These shipments have to pass through narrow trade routessuch as the Strait of Hormuz, which makes the supply chain vulnerable to political conflicts.
Specialized containers are insulated but not refrigerated. This means that, due to the physical properties of helium, the element ends up escaping of containers over time.
The United States has the largest helium reserves in the world, stored in Amarillo, Texas. Originally created in 1925 to supply the airship industry, this reserve has become a global strategic cushion which helped to stabilize prices.
In recent decades, however, the U.S. sold a large part of these reserves under the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, reducing that safety net. With semiconductor supply chains threatened, there is a risk that helium shortages will come stop the artificial intelligence revolution.
