Helium’s thermal conductivity rank among the highest of all industrial gases, making it a superior heat transfer medium for many applications. In addition, Helium’s chemical and nuclear stability enables its use in certain extreme applications. For these reasons, helium is often selected as an inert gas for applications requiring rapid and efficient heating or cooling in applications such as the following:
- Quenching in vacuum furnaces for the heat treatment of metal parts
- Purging fuel lines and tanks containing ultra-cold liquid fuel during rocket launch and flight
- In the production of optical fibers, helium removes impurities in the glass and enables rapid cooling of the drawn fibers
- Heat removal in plasma etching processing of electronics and flat panel displays
- Improves heat transfer from fuel pellets in nuclear reactors
- Working fluid in cryocoolers, including pulse tube technology used for critical military applications
- Cools the wafer chuck in ion implant processes
Helium for heat transfer applications may be supplied in cylinders, high pressure tube trailers, or as a cryogenic liquified gasz
