Helium - Revision history

Miros1: Fixed a capitalization problem.

2019-06-23T08:20:09Z

Fixed a capitalization problem.

Miros1: Fixed a red link to RTG by redirecting to wikipedia. Needs better fix, but a red link in a featured article looks bad to me.

2019-06-23T08:19:05Z

Fixed a red link to RTG by redirecting to wikipedia. Needs better fix, but a red link in a featured article looks bad to me.

Strangelv: Adding image of Helium 3 (not to scale)

2019-06-20T12:34:23Z

Adding image of Helium 3 (not to scale)

128.138.65.132: /* 3He */

2015-10-04T19:08:08Z

3He

128.138.65.132: /* 3He */

2015-10-04T19:07:43Z

3He

Farred: fix typos

2013-10-21T02:18:45Z

fix typos

Farred: fix typos

2013-05-24T19:35:43Z

fix typos

Farred: correction

2013-01-20T02:23:49Z

correction

50.137.24.90: /* Value of Lunar Helium 3 in Today's Market */ new data

2013-01-19T20:16:26Z

Value of Lunar Helium 3 in Today's Market: new data

Cfrjlr: /* Chronic shortage of Helium-3 isotope could be resolved by mining lunar regolith */

2012-12-20T19:16:20Z

Chronic shortage of Helium-3 isotope could be resolved by mining lunar regolith

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 cryst=Hexagonal or<BR/>body centered cubic                                                   |
 }}
-'''Helium''' is a component of the [[solar wind]], and hence is one of the [[volatiles]] found (in parts per million level) in [[Lunar regolith]]. It is a Noble gas in group 18 and is the second element in the [[Periodic Table of the Elements]].  This element has two stable isotopes: 3 and 4.
+'''Helium''' is a component of the [[solar wind]], and hence is one of the [[volatiles]] found (in parts per million level) in [[Lunar Regolith]]. It is a Noble gas in group 18 and is the second element in the [[Periodic Table of the Elements]].  This element has two stable isotopes: 3 and 4.
 The most common isotope, Helium-4, has a nucleus of two protons and two neutrons, and two electrons.  The less common isotope Helium-3 has two protons and one neutron.

@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
 A [[Volatiles|commonly discussed method]] is cooking the [[regolith]] to about 1400 degrees Fahrenheit or 760 degrees Celsius<ref>[http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/pdf/fdm817.pdf H. H. Schmitt et al; (November 1989). "Mining Helium-3 from the Moon - A Solution to the Earth's Energy Needs in the 21st Century."]</ref>. They describe three steps:
-) heat to a few hundred deg C to drive off the volatiles 2) fractional distillation to decant off the heavy volatiles 3) separate He3 from the He4 using the standard superleak process. Two challenges are devising a method to process large quantities of regolith as the He3 is at a low concentration, and providing a high power thermally efficient heat source on the Moon. This would need a large amount of energy, requiring the lander to have either a nuclear source (either [[Nuclear Fission]] or [[RTG]]), or large [[Solar Power|solar panels]]. [[Basalt]] has specific heat capacity of 0.24 cal/g/degree C or 0.84 KJ/kg degree K.  To heat 1kg of basalt by 700 degrees Celsius requires about 600 KJ.  The highest concentration of He3 in the Maria regions is 0.01ppm in the regolith.  This means that 600 KJ will yield  0.01 milligrams of He3.  Using these numbers, a 600 Watt power source could produce 0.01 milligrams of He3 per second = 0.6 mg/minute = 36mg/hour = 864mg/day = 315 grams per year. Whether this business concept is viable depends on how quickly a group or entity wants to amortize their investment. If an arbitrary target is to produce 100 kg He3 in one year, then a power source of about 200 KW would be needed.  That would give a revenue stream of $400M per year '''if''' the He3 market does not become flooded causing a price drop.
+) heat to a few hundred deg C to drive off the volatiles 2) fractional distillation to decant off the heavy volatiles 3) separate He3 from the He4 using the standard superleak process. Two challenges are devising a method to process large quantities of regolith as the He3 is at a low concentration, and providing a high power thermally efficient heat source on the Moon. This would need a large amount of energy, requiring the lander to have either a nuclear source (either [[Nuclear Fission]] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator RTG]), or large [[Solar Power|solar panels]]. [[Basalt]] has specific heat capacity of 0.24 cal/g/degree C or 0.84 KJ/kg degree K.  To heat 1kg of basalt by 700 degrees Celsius requires about 600 KJ.  The highest concentration of He3 in the Maria regions is 0.01ppm in the regolith.  This means that 600 KJ will yield  0.01 milligrams of He3.  Using these numbers, a 600 Watt power source could produce 0.01 milligrams of He3 per second = 0.6 mg/minute = 36mg/hour = 864mg/day = 315 grams per year. Whether this business concept is viable depends on how quickly a group or entity wants to amortize their investment. If an arbitrary target is to produce 100 kg He3 in one year, then a power source of about 200 KW would be needed.  That would give a revenue stream of $400M per year '''if''' the He3 market does not become flooded causing a price drop.
 A [[Solar Power]] based system would be in darkness 50% of the time, so would need to operate at 400 KW. If it were on a lunar polar mountain top it might be in near continuous illumination.  Assuming a best case scenario of 100% lighting, 10% photo voltaic efficiency and a fully steerable array, this would need an area of about 2,000 square meters, or about 45 meters on a square side.  A simple non-PV solar reflector could be near 100% efficient, needing only 200 square meters or about 14 meters on a square side, or aperture. Setting up a 14 meter aperture mirror on the Moon would be a major engineering challenge, although it would not need to be particularly accurate as in the case of an astronomical telescope mirror.

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 {{Element                                                                                |
 name=Helium                                                                              |
 symbol=He                                                                                |
 available=trace                                                                          |

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:08, 4 October 2015
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	==<sup>3</sup>He==		==<sup>3</sup>He==
−	''Helium ~~8=D~~'' is a rare isotope of the element [[Helium]], consisting of a nucleus with two protons and one neutron. The approved abbreviation (for physics use) for Helium-3 is <sup>3</sup>He, however, the abbreviation He3 is also seen. Since most of the Earth's helium is produced by alpha-decay of Uranium isotopes, resulting in <sup>4</sup>He (the most common isotope of Helium), <sup>3</sup>He is rare on Earth. It is comparatively more abundant in non-terrestrial sources, although even in non-terrestrial sources, only a small fraction of helium atoms are Helium 3. The [[Moon]] is a source of <sup>3</sup>He, which is implanted into the lunar [[regolith]] by the [[solar wind]]. Helium is present in the soil in quantities of ten to a hundred (weight) parts per million, and 0.003 to 1 percent of this amount (depending on soil) is <sup>3</sup>He.	+	''Helium 3'' is a rare isotope of the element [[Helium]], consisting of a nucleus with two protons and one neutron. The approved abbreviation (for physics use) for Helium-3 is <sup>3</sup>He, however, the abbreviation He3 is also seen. Since most of the Earth's helium is produced by alpha-decay of Uranium isotopes, resulting in <sup>4</sup>He (the most common isotope of Helium), <sup>3</sup>He is rare on Earth. It is comparatively more abundant in non-terrestrial sources, although even in non-terrestrial sources, only a small fraction of helium atoms are Helium 3. The [[Moon]] is a source of <sup>3</sup>He, which is implanted into the lunar [[regolith]] by the [[solar wind]]. Helium is present in the soil in quantities of ten to a hundred (weight) parts per million, and 0.003 to 1 percent of this amount (depending on soil) is <sup>3</sup>He.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:07, 4 October 2015
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	==<sup>3</sup>He==		==<sup>3</sup>He==
−	''Helium 3'' is a rare isotope of the element [[Helium]], consisting of a nucleus with two protons and one neutron. The approved abbreviation (for physics use) for Helium-3 is <sup>3</sup>He, however, the abbreviation He3 is also seen. Since most of the Earth's helium is produced by alpha-decay of Uranium isotopes, resulting in <sup>4</sup>He (the most common isotope of Helium), <sup>3</sup>He is rare on Earth. It is comparatively more abundant in non-terrestrial sources, although even in non-terrestrial sources, only a small fraction of helium atoms are Helium 3. The [[Moon]] is a source of <sup>3</sup>He, which is implanted into the lunar [[regolith]] by the [[solar wind]]. Helium is present in the soil in quantities of ten to a hundred (weight) parts per million, and 0.003 to 1 percent of this amount (depending on soil) is <sup>3</sup>He.	+	''Helium 8=D'' is a rare isotope of the element [[Helium]], consisting of a nucleus with two protons and one neutron. The approved abbreviation (for physics use) for Helium-3 is <sup>3</sup>He, however, the abbreviation He3 is also seen. Since most of the Earth's helium is produced by alpha-decay of Uranium isotopes, resulting in <sup>4</sup>He (the most common isotope of Helium), <sup>3</sup>He is rare on Earth. It is comparatively more abundant in non-terrestrial sources, although even in non-terrestrial sources, only a small fraction of helium atoms are Helium 3. The [[Moon]] is a source of <sup>3</sup>He, which is implanted into the lunar [[regolith]] by the [[solar wind]]. Helium is present in the soil in quantities of ten to a hundred (weight) parts per million, and 0.003 to 1 percent of this amount (depending on soil) is <sup>3</sup>He.

@@ Line 103: / Line 103: @@
 Since He3 has a high market value today, it might be worth collecting He3 from the Moon today simply to sell into the existing terrestrial market.
-Demand for Helium-3 is steadily increasing primarily for Neutron detectors.for cargo screening (for illegal fissile material).
+Demand for Helium-3 is steadily increasing primarily for Neutron detectors for cargo screening (for illegal fissile material).
 In 2008, a total of 80,000 liters of He3 were sold worldwide, at an average price of $100 per liter, i.e. total market of $8 million. Then starting 2009 the DOE has introduced rationing and the price jumped dramatically.
@@ Line 118: / Line 118: @@
 A [[Volatiles|commonly discussed method]] is cooking the [[regolith]] to about 1400 degrees Fahrenheit or 760 degrees Celsius<ref>[http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/pdf/fdm817.pdf H. H. Schmitt et al; (November 1989). "Mining Helium-3 from the Moon - A Solution to the Earth's Energy Needs in the 21st Century."]</ref>. They describe three steps:
-) heat to a few hundred deg C to drive off the volatiles 2) fractional distillation to decant off the heavy volatiles 3) separate He3 from the He4 using the standard superleak process. Two challenges are devising a method to process large quantities of regolith as the He3 is at a low concentration, and providing a high power thermally efficient heat source on the Moon. This would need a large amount of energy, requiring the lander to have either a nuclear source (either [[Nuclear Fission]] or [[RTG]]), or large [[Solar Power|solar panels]]. [[Basalt]] has specific heat capacity of 0.24 cal/g/degreeC or 0.84 KJ/kg degreeK.  To heat 1kg of basalt by 700 degrees Celsius requires about 600 KJ.  The highest concentration of He3 in the Maria regions is 0.01ppm in the regolith.  This means that 600 KJ will yield  0.01 milligrams of He3.  Using these numbers, a 600 Watt power source could produce 0.01 milligrams of He3 per second = 0.6 mg/minute = 36mg/hour = 864mg/day = 315 grams per year. Whether this business concept is viable depends on how quickly a group or entity wants to amortize their investment. If an arbitrary target is to produce 100 kg He3 in one year, then a power source of about 200 KW would be needed.  That would give a revenue stream of $400M per year '''if''' the He3 market does not become flooded causing a price drop.
+) heat to a few hundred deg C to drive off the volatiles 2) fractional distillation to decant off the heavy volatiles 3) separate He3 from the He4 using the standard superleak process. Two challenges are devising a method to process large quantities of regolith as the He3 is at a low concentration, and providing a high power thermally efficient heat source on the Moon. This would need a large amount of energy, requiring the lander to have either a nuclear source (either [[Nuclear Fission]] or [[RTG]]), or large [[Solar Power|solar panels]]. [[Basalt]] has specific heat capacity of 0.24 cal/g/degree C or 0.84 KJ/kg degree K.  To heat 1kg of basalt by 700 degrees Celsius requires about 600 KJ.  The highest concentration of He3 in the Maria regions is 0.01ppm in the regolith.  This means that 600 KJ will yield  0.01 milligrams of He3.  Using these numbers, a 600 Watt power source could produce 0.01 milligrams of He3 per second = 0.6 mg/minute = 36mg/hour = 864mg/day = 315 grams per year. Whether this business concept is viable depends on how quickly a group or entity wants to amortize their investment. If an arbitrary target is to produce 100 kg He3 in one year, then a power source of about 200 KW would be needed.  That would give a revenue stream of $400M per year '''if''' the He3 market does not become flooded causing a price drop.
 A [[Solar Power]] based system would be in darkness 50% of the time, so would need to operate at 400 KW. If it were on a lunar polar mountain top it might be in near continuous illumination.  Assuming a best case scenario of 100% lighting, 10% photo voltaic efficiency and a fully steerable array, this would need an area of about 2,000 square meters, or about 45 meters on a square side.  A simple non-PV solar reflector could be near 100% efficient, needing only 200 square meters or about 14 meters on a square side, or aperture. Setting up a 14 meter aperture mirror on the Moon would be a major engineering challenge, although it would not need to be particularly accurate as in the case of an astronomical telescope mirror.

@@ Line 104: / Line 104: @@
 Demand for Helium-3 is steadily increasing primarily for Neutron detectors.for cargo screening (for illegal fissile material).
-In 2008, a total of 80,000 liters of He3 were sold worldwide, at an average price of $100 per litre, i.e. total market of $8 million. Then starting 2009 the DOE has introduced rationing and the price jumped dramatically.
+In 2008, a total of 80,000 liters of He3 were sold worldwide, at an average price of $100 per liter, i.e. total market of $8 million. Then starting 2009 the DOE has introduced rationing and the price jumped dramatically.
 In 2010  DOE released 14,000 liters per year, at a spot market auction price of $2,000 per liter, $15,000 per gram or $500,000 per troy ounce, over 300 times the price of gold or platinum by weight.
@@ Line 113: / Line 113: @@
 *Would it depress the market price today?  This depends on the size of the market, and there is little data.
-The US [[Tritium]] and helium-3 stockpile sizes were classified until 2010, because they give a hint as to how many US nuclear weapons are still functional.  When it was declassified, there was a a shock because the stockpile was much smaller than anybody realized, and at the same time global demand was rising and there were only a few years of supply left, so rationing was introduced.
+The US [[Tritium]] and helium-3 stockpile sizes were classified until 2010, because they give a hint as to how many US nuclear weapons are still functional.  When it was declassified, there was a shock because the stockpile was much smaller than anybody realized, and at the same time global demand was rising and there were only a few years of supply left, so rationing was introduced.
 The cost of soft landing even a small probe on to the lunar surface may easily cost more than $200M. How much He3 a small lander would manufacture and how many grams per day have yet to be determined.  Production will be determined by the method of processing.
@@ Line 130: / Line 130: @@
 ====Chronic shortage of Helium-3 isotope could be resolved by mining lunar regolith====
-Demand for Helium-3 is steadily increasing primarily for Neutron detectors.for cargo screening (for illegal fissile material).
+Demand for Helium-3 is steadily increasing primarily for Neutron detectors for cargo screening (for illegal fissile material).
 In 2008, a total of 80,000 liters of He3 were sold worldwide, at an average price of $100, i.e. total market of $8 million -
@@ Line 174: / Line 174: @@
 The obvious terrestrial solution to the He3 supply problem is to make more tritium in the same way that it was made for nuclear weapons and then let it decay to He3.  A blanket of lithium six is placed in the neutron flux outside the core of a nuclear reactor.  Tritium is generated in the lithium.  If there is a market for He4, that would be a by-product.
-At present the US Govt is investing heavily in Boron-10 technology as a second rate alternative to Helium-3 for neutron detectors.
+At present the US Government is investing heavily in Boron-10 technology as a second rate alternative to Helium-3 for neutron detectors.
-According to Harrison Schnmitt in his 2006 book "Return to the Moon", the Mark-II lunar miner of the Wisconsin Uni Fusion Institute, would cost about $1 billion. This Mark-II plant would produce 33 kg of He3 per year. This is several times more than needed to service the existing terrestrial He3 market .... presumably we could build a plant to produce 10 kg per year for $500 million?
+According to Harrison Schnmitt in his 2006 book "Return to the Moon", the Mark-II lunar miner of the Wisconsin University Fusion Institute, would cost about $1 billion. This Mark-II plant would produce 33 kg of He3 per year. This is several times more than needed to service the existing terrestrial He3 market .... presumably we could build a plant to produce 10 kg per year for $500 million?
 == Applications  ==

@@ Line 152: / Line 152: @@
 Table-3 in the preceding ref shows Helium-3 price trends steadily increasing. The spot price has more than doubled in the last 3 years (2009 though 2011). The stockpiles of He-3 are shrinking rapidly, and there are only a few years of supply left in the current stockpiles, at which point the price could jump by orders of magnitude.
-Alternative terrestrial sources are scarce and non-viable. For example, extracting He3 from natural gas could cost $12,000 per liter.
+One alternative terrestrial source is extracting He3 from natural gas.  It could cost $12,000 per liter.
 The commercial amount of He3 needed would be 10,000 liters per year to 100,000 liters per year. He3 density is about 0.1g per liter at NTP, so we need about 1kg to 10 kg of the gas per year. At average concentration about 150,000 tons of regolith per year would need to be processed. About 500 tons per day, 22 tones per hour
@@ Line 172: / Line 172: @@
 There is a shortfall of 80,000 minus 14,000 liters = 66,000 liters of pent up demand, or to put it another way, the existing supply of He3 can only satisfy 17.5% of world demand.
-There is no terrestrial solution to the He3 supply side, so for once the Moon has a real shot at being a solution to a real terrestrial economic problem.
+The obvious terrestrial solution to the He3 supply problem is to make more tritium in the same way that it was made for nuclear weapons and then let it decay to He3.  A blanket of lithium six is placed in the neutron flux outside the core of a nuclear reactor.  Tritium is generated in the lithium.  If there is a market for He4, that would be a by-product.
-−
 At present the US Govt is investing heavily in Boron-10 technology as a second rate alternative to Helium-3 for neutron detectors.

@@ Line 101: / Line 101: @@
 ===Value of Lunar Helium 3 in Today's Market===
-Since He3 has a high market value today, it might be worth collecting He3 from the Moon today simply to sell into the existing terrestrial market. The price of He3 given in PRAVDA is $4billion per ton.<ref> [http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/17-03-2006/77404-moon-0/ '''''PRAVDA''''' Russia to launch industrial mining of helium-3 on the Moon in 2020] </ref>  That is $4000/gram, $124000/troy ounce or 90 times the price of gold.
+Since He3 has a high market value today, it might be worth collecting He3 from the Moon today simply to sell into the existing terrestrial market.
 Questions:
-*Can the cost of recovering He3 from the lunar surface be reduced to that level, e.g. $4000 per gram?
+*Can the cost of recovering He3 from the lunar surface be reduced to that level, e.g. $15K per gram?
 *What would be the capital cost of setting up a small He3 production facility on Luna?
 *Would it depress the market price today?  This depends on the size of the market, and there is little data.
-The US [[Tritium]] and helium-3 stockpile sizes are classified, because they give a hint as to how many US nuclear weapons are still functional.  According to Wikipedia “approximately 150 kilograms of it (He3) have resulted from decay of US [[Tritium]] production since 1955.”  One could assume a similar quantity has been accumulated in the ex-USSR, and perhaps additionally from other thermonuclear powers (UK, France, China).
+The US [[Tritium]] and helium-3 stockpile sizes were classified until 2010, because they give a hint as to how many US nuclear weapons are still functional.  When it was declassified, there was a a shock because the stockpile was much smaller than anybody realized, and at the same time global demand was rising and there were only a few years of supply left, so rationing was introduced.
-Today, the world's supply of Helium-3 can be counted in hundreds of kilograms, and the value of 100 kg would be $400M.  So it may be assumed that the total stockpile value today is roughly about one billion USD. The US DOE does sell He3 commercially, but how much of the present stockpile has actually been sold on the open market is an open question. Assuming that someone were to start at the level of collecting 100kg of He3 from the Moon and assume its value would be $400M, the cost of soft landing even a small probe on to the lunar surface may easily cost more than $200M. How much He3 a small lander would manufacture and how many grams per day have yet to be determined.  Production will be determined by the method of processing.
+The cost of soft landing even a small probe on to the lunar surface may easily cost more than $200M. How much He3 a small lander would manufacture and how many grams per day have yet to be determined.  Production will be determined by the method of processing.
 A [[Volatiles|commonly discussed method]] is cooking the [[regolith]] to about 1400 degrees Fahrenheit or 760 degrees Celsius<ref>[http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/pdf/fdm817.pdf H. H. Schmitt et al; (November 1989). "Mining Helium-3 from the Moon - A Solution to the Earth's Energy Needs in the 21st Century."]</ref>. They describe three steps:
@@ Line 139: / Line 144: @@
 ) increasing demand for neutron detectors since 2001 for cargo screening at airport and seaports. There is also increasing demand at research facilities.
-) reduced supply due to decommissioning of nuclear warheads in USA and Russia
+) reduced supply due to decommissioning and destruction of nuclear warheads in USA and Russia
 References: <ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41419.pdf The Helium-3 Shortage: Supply, Demand, and Options for Congress]  Dana A. Shea + Daniel Morgan - Specialists in Science and Technology PolicyDec 22, 2010 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R41419</ref>

@@ Line 142: / Line 142: @@
 References: <ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41419.pdf The Helium-3 Shortage: Supply, Demand, and Options for Congress]  Dana A. Shea + Daniel Morgan - Specialists in Science and Technology PolicyDec 22, 2010 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R41419</ref>
-<ref>[http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11472.pdf GAO-11-472 from May 2011,
+<ref>[http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11472.pdf GAO-11-472] from May 2011,
-title: MANAGING CRITICAL ISOTOPES Weaknesses in DOE’s Management of Helium-3 Delayed the Federal Response to a Critical Supply Shortage]</ref>
+title: MANAGING CRITICAL ISOTOPES Weaknesses in DOE’s Management of Helium-3 Delayed the Federal Response to a Critical Supply Shortage</ref>
 Table-3 in the preceding ref shows Helium-3 price trends steadily increasing. The spot price has more than doubled in the last 3 years (2009 though 2011). The stockpiles of He-3 are shrinking rapidly, and there are only a few years of supply left in the current stockpiles, at which point the price could jump by orders of magnitude.