Helium
Colorless, odorless, nonflammable, inert gas.
Download SDS: P-4602
GRADES & SIZES
Helium is available in gas form in high pressure steel or aluminum cylinders and liquid form in low pressure units. Our most popular sizes and grades are below. Don’t see what you need? Send us a message and we’ll get back to you in 1 day.
AVAILABILITY
Helium is available for purchase with a new cylinder or for exchange at any of our 8 Front Range General Air locations. Business customers can purchase Helium in a store, request delivery, and receive bulk quantities.
Popular Sizes
| Size | Volume | CGA | Full Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Ultra High Pressure Steel |
513CF | 677 | 6000 |
| #1 Steel | 291CF | 580 | 2200 |
| #2 Steel | 258CF | ||
| #5 Steel | 80CF | ||
| #6 Steel | 35CF | ||
| #7 Steel | 20CF |
Trace Impurities
| Helium | O2 | H2O | THC | N2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99.999% | <1 ppm | <2 ppm | <1 ppm | <5 ppm |
| Size | Volume | CGA | Full Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Steel | 291CF | 590 | 2200 |
| #2 Steel | 219CF | ||
| #4 Steel | 108CF |
Trace Impurities
| Helium | H2O |
|---|---|
| 99.99% | <40 ppm |
Popular Sizes
| Size | Volume | CGA | Full Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|
| H | 219CF | 580 | 2200 |
| E | 22CF |
| Helium | Air | CO | Odor Test | Identity Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99.00% | <1% | <10 ppm | Pass | Pass |
Common Applications
Industrial
- Welding shielding gas
Specialty
- Airbags
- Microscopes
- Computer hard drives
- Semiconductor chips
- Blimps
- Weather balloons
- Fiber optic wire
- Leak detection
Medical
- Refrigerant for superconducting magnets in MRI machines
- Adjunct therapy in respiratory ailments like COPD, ARDS, croup, and bronchiolitis
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Helium in short supply?
The current Helium shortage is due to a perfect storm of unforeseeable events at various production facilities.
- A new plant opened in Russia in 2021 and had to shut down due to fires in October of 2021 and January of 2022, that plant will likely be offline until 2023.
- The largest supply of the world’s Helium comes from two facilities in Qatar, both plants experienced maintenance outages in the last year.
- The Bureau of Land Management’s Helium enrichment plant suffered an outage in January of 2022, causing a 10% drop in the world supply
- In 2022 there was a fire at a processing plant in Kansas.
- The war in Ukraine has also had an impact, natural gas that would typically go to Algeria for extraction has been diverted to an undersea European pipeline from which Helium cannot be extracted.
Why are there continued Helium shortages?
There have been 4 major Helium shortages since 2006. All of these shortages have been caused by disruption in the production process rather than an increase in demand.
What is being done to prevent future shortages?
The BLM has enlisted the assistance of independent gas suppliers to resume production quickly. In addition to getting new Helium production plants constructed, there is a greater push to increase storage capacity with the addition of private facilities.