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The Impact of Selling the Federal Helium Reserve (2000) / Chapter Skim
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1 Properties and History
Pages 14-18

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From page 14...
... As a result, helium is chemically inert and does not form stable compounds with other elements. The attractive forces between helium atoms are also so weak that helium has the lowest liquefaction temperature of all the 'permanent" gases and, unlike all other elements, does not freeze under its own vapor pressure as the temperature is lowered toward absolute zero.
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From page 15...
... An example in which these properties play a vital role is the manufacture of optical fibers, where the high thermal conductivity is important during the heat-treatment phase of fabrication, and the rapid diffusion of helium through the glass ensures that there are no trapped bubbles that would destroy the desired properties of the fibers. Helium's low liquefaction temperatures make it desirable for purging, pressurization, and cryogenic applications.
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From page 16...
... producers reported a number of natural gas fields from which helium could potentially be produced, interest in commercial recovery did not develop until the onset of World War I For example, Kamerlingh Onnes obtained the helium for his early 1908 experiments on the liquefaction of helium by a tedious extraction from a mineral source, monazite sands.
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From page 17...
... The act also permitted private helium production, so that BOM would become a buyer of last resort. As a direct result of the 1960 Act and on the basis of 22-year contracts with BOM, several private oil and gas producers built five new helium extraction plants.
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From page 18...
... Second, the government raised its helium prices to levels significantly above those of the private producers. As a result, just before BEM ceased helium production in 1998, more than 90 percent of domestic demand was being satisfied from private sources up from nothing before passage of the 1960 amendments.
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Key Terms

  • helium production
  • thermal conductivity
  • lifting gas
  • cliffside field
  • liquid helium

  • private helium
  • fort worth
  • dome reservoir
  • helium reserve
  • helium extraction

  • cryogenic applications
  • crude helium
  • federal helium
  • solar eclipse
  • helium atoms

  • absolute zero
  • bush dome
  • million scf
  • liquid hydrogen
  • production evolved

  • entered world
  • attractive forces
  • near amarillo
  • low liquefaction
  • nearing exhaustion

  • british government
  • increasing importance
  • optical fibers
  • producers reported
  • glass ensures


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