Helium is an indispensable substance in research that requires very low temperatures and, after serving its purpose, generally disperses into the air. Spurred on by the ever-rising prices of helium, a team assembled to consider recovering the gas for reuse. A fine example of teamwork, reflects Stef Olsthoorn, who spearheaded the project two years ago together with Tom Bloemberg.
Helium is a by-product of gas extraction, making its recovery also profitable from a sustainability point of view. This is an added benefit, says Olsthoorn. “Initially, it was about saving money. When prices started to rise, a recovery plant was built at the Magnet Lab (HFML) some 10 years ago.” Since then, the STEM faculty has also been funnelling all its consumed helium to this facility.
Helium still released into the air
But at Trigon, the home of brain researchers at the Donders Institute, helium was still being released into the air after being used in MRI scans. By capturing this gas too and converting it into liquid helium at the HFML, the entire campus would be able to provide its own helium. It took the team two years of preparation, and they succeeded: barely a drop of helium is now being lost, Olsthoorn recalls. “We hardly need to buy anything anymore, saving a quarter of a million euros a year, and helium is getting more and more expensive.”
Olsthoorn puts it down to a great example of teamwork, which involved joining hands across all departments. The first hurdle was capturing the gas in the first place. This is now done using a large balloon, after which the gas is forced into gas cylinders via a compressor. To tackle the second hurdle, the in-house transport service got on board, and they now deliver 12 gas cylinders to the HFML every week. This required an as-yet-unknown transport method, for which the transport staff did an extra course due to the special safety requirements.
Perseverance pays off
When the idea was launched, people were still laughing at the "child's play with the balloon and bottle transport”, says Olsthoorn. But everyone persevered, proving to him that perseverance pays off, quite literally. “This shows that you can save a lot using a relatively simple intervention, which is highly relevant in these times of austerity.” This can be seen as a lesson for everyone on campus: look around you to see if your work or processes can also be done differently; more simply, cheaply or sustainably.
Marty Herregraven (TechnoCentrum, photo above) in front of the compressor and balloon. The other participants in the project team who have done a lot of work are Erik van den Boogert (Donders Institute), Frits Jansen (HFML), and Koen van Leeuwen (Campus & Facilities). Bottom photo: Michel Derksen and John van den Berg take care of the transport of the helium bottles. / Photos: Dick van Aalst
