Edinburgh Helium capture goes live!

If you visited our Chemistry NMR facility last week, you would have noticed extensive new copper piping decorating the rooms. Nope, it is not Scotch whisky, but Helium (He) that gently (during a normal operation) or intensely (during the refills) flows through them towards a large yellow balloon, where it is stored temporarily before being compressed into gas cylinders.

This £50k project, which also collects He from our 12T FT ICR MS magnet, was funded by the UoE Sustainable Campus Fund (https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/sustainability/about/programmes/sustainable-campus-fund), School of Chemistry and NMR/MS facility budgets. It ensures a more economical long-term operation of our Facilities, guarantees He delivery in times of future He shortages and saves this precious natural resource.

Juraj and Lorna preparing to refill a magnet…

… and the refill is on its way

Water vapour condensation appears; you can even see liquid oxygen dripping from the pipes

Temporary storage of He in our “yellow submarine”