Helium Plant Scenario Presets
Load calibrated natural gas, LNG and helium-rich field benchmarks:
Gas Feed, Recovery, Pricing & Capital Inputs
Helium Recovery Flowsheet
| Process Parameter | Output / Metric |
|---|
| Revenue / Cost Line | Annual ($M/yr) |
|---|
20-Year NPV & IRR Sensitivity: Helium Recovery vs. Grade-A Price
20-Year Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Pro-Forma Schedule
10-Year Straight-Line Depreciation | 21% Tax | 1%/yr Field Decline| Year | He (Mcf) | He (kg) | Revenue ($M) | OPEX ($M) | EBITDA ($M) | Taxes ($M) | Free Cash Flow ($M) | Discounted FCF ($M) | Cumulative FCF ($M) |
|---|
Governing Helium Recovery Relations
1. Helium Volume
Annual saleable helium from feed gas:
VHe = Q × 365 × uptime × yHe × η
Q in Mcf/d, y the helium mole fraction, η total recovery.
2. Unit Conversion
Thousand cubic feet to mass:
1 Mcf He ≈ 28.3 Nm³ × 0.1786 kg/Nm³ ≈ 5.05 kg
An MRI magnet fill of about 1,500 L liquid helium is roughly 187 kg.
3. Boiling Points
Why NRU overhead is helium-rich:
Tb: He 4.2 K < H2 20 K < N2 77 K < CH4 112 K
Helium stays gaseous while methane and nitrogen condense in the NRU.
Helium Recovery Mastery Quiz
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Helium is produced by alpha decay of uranium and thorium in the Earth's crust and becomes trapped with natural gas, at concentrations from 0.05 to over 2%. Commercial helium is recovered as a by-product at natural gas and LNG plants, because air holds only 5.2 ppm helium and is far costlier to process.
In a cryogenic nitrogen rejection unit, methane and nitrogen condense while helium, the lowest-boiling element at 4.2 K, stays in the non-condensable overhead. This crude helium stream, typically 50–70% He, is upgraded by catalytic oxygen removal, pressure swing adsorption and getters to 99.999% Grade-A helium.
Liquid helium boils at 4.2 K with a very small latent heat, so ISO containers and dewars lose product to boil-off over about 35–45 days. Long shipping lanes, limited container fleets and few producing regions make delivered helium prices volatile.
Superconducting MRI magnets, semiconductor and fiber optic manufacturing, leak detection, welding, lifting gas and quantum computing cryostats drive demand. Few applications can substitute for liquid helium at 4 K, so demand is relatively inelastic and supply disruptions move prices sharply.
The model computes helium volume from gas feed, helium fraction, uptime and recovery, prices Grade-A helium per thousand cubic feet, subtracts power, liquefaction, logistics and fixed O&M, applies a two-year ramp, 1% annual field decline, 10-year depreciation and 21% tax, then discounts 20 years of free cash flow at WACC.