UF receives $1.8 million to upgrade helium-supplying facility on campus

May 23, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1.8 million academic infrastructure grant to the University of Florida to upgrade the helium liquefaction facility that supports a wide range of research programs across the campus.

The supply of liquid helium is critical to many areas of modern research ranging from basic studies in physics and chemistry to the operation of large superconducting magnets. Those magnets are the only means of producing the strong magnetic fields needed for chemical structure studies, magnetic resonance imaging, modern materials research and the production of extremely low temperatures — all areas where the University of Florida has world-class programs.

“While helium liquefaction at the University of Florida dates back more than 50 years, it is the modern campuswide service that is today unique and the envy of institutions worldwide,” said Neil Sullivan, a professor of physics and principal investigator of the project. “The remote monitoring of helium usage and recovery is exceptionally efficient and the key for providing low-cost, reliable liquid helium delivery to research programs that could not be carried out without this dedicated service.”

The networked facility, established in 1992, today delivers liquid helium across the entire campus and recovers the spent gas via a 2-mile network of pipeline that feeds a central liquefier located in the physics department. The use and recovery of the helium is monitored by a unique computer network with a recovery rate as high as 95 percent and is regarded by experts as a model for other institutions.

The 19-year-old facility now needs a major upgrade to meet the growth and increasing demands of the research programs. The award will allow the facility to increase services to meet demands that now approach 120,000 liters of liquid helium per year.

Users requiring large volumes of liquid helium include the High Magnetic Field-Ultra-Low Temperature Facility in the physics department and the Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Facility at the McKnight Brain Institute, both of which are operated as part of a national facility, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. These facilities are used by researchers from all over the world as well as by university scientists and students. However, 55 percent of the total production is used in various research programs operated by individual faculty members and their students in physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology and materials sciences and engineering.

The award will allow the facility to meet the full needs of the users and the needs of new programs such as those planned for the new chemistry building without a dependence on costly and intermittent commercial supplies. The local production and efficient recovery facilitate a significant reduction of the carbon footprint and sustainable use of limited helium resources.