5 ms·
It is a matter of economics. Even at $20 per liter, that research group only pays $8k per year. It would be hard for them to justify dropping $100k on a liqui
by djaque 6y ago
It is a matter of economics. Even at $20 per liter, that research group only pays $8k per year. It would be hard for them to justify dropping $100k on a liquifier to their funding agencies. Doing that would bump up the amount of money they ask for on a grant by an order of magnitude. Most groups use liquid helium even more sparingly than them.
I'm in a huge research university and I am only familiar with one group that has a liquifier and it's because they move through Helium on the kiloliter scale.
- azalemeth 6y agoMy institution takes the long game: Physics as a department has a (£1m, ~2000l / overnight run) liquefier that is used nearly continuously and pays for itself in the long run. This is the tragedy of the commons for climate change all over again: individually, we profit by polluting as not doing so involves a cost; societally we win overall by changing our behaviour collectively. A helium liquefier and recovery system is exactly the sort of thing a competent departmental head should support.