Lancaster Helium Ltd

Company description

Lancaster Helium supplies Helium, comprised exclusively of the Helium-4 isotope.

Lancaster Helium Ltd is a spin-out company of Lancaster University. It supplies the isotopically pure He-4 gas needed for a diversity of applications including - •Coolant gas in a nuclear reactor •The down-scattering medium for ultra-cold neutron (UCN) production •Measurement of the Landau critical velocity •Experiments on quantum turbulence •Cyclotron resonance of ions below the superfluid surface •Production of excited helium molecules (long-lived excimers) •Ultra-low-temperature experiments on solid He-4 The gas has many other possible uses. Isotopic separation is effected by heat flush in liquid helium below its superfluid transition temperature at 2.17 K. The He-4 isotopic purity achieved within the company's present machine is believed to be perfect. Thus, any He-3 in the product must arise from subsequent contamination, e.g. by the compressor or pipework or containers. The gas may contain traces of air, water and oil vapour but isotopically it is of extremely high purity.

Project impact

Sale of 12 kg of isotopically purified He-4 to Technical University of Munich (2018) for use in a nuclear reactor forming the core of their new ultra-cold neutron (UCN) source.