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The short answer is that there aren't enough funding dollars, and the ones that are there are too hard to win. Reclamation systems are a one-time large expense
by MengerSponge 5y ago
The short answer is that there aren't enough funding dollars, and the ones that are there are too hard to win.
Reclamation systems are a one-time large expense and a small maintenance expense thereafter. Helium is a medium-sized expense... forever.
If you're grant funded and your lab doesn't have a huge amount of discretionary cash or a flagship experiment that justifies a reclamation system, welp, all that helium's gonna get vented.
Thankfully, a lot of systems have switched to dry cryostats. If you can survive the vibrations, cryopumped systems are way more pleasant to work on.
- exmadscientist 5y agoIf you have one apparatus using LHe, sure, fine, I can see why venting the He might make sense. (The greybeards can still be furious, but that's on them.) But when you have twenty-eight... I kind of feel like that's somewhat past the point where reclamation starts to be a win for everyone (except the LHe suppliers).
- MengerSponge 5y agoI mean, the youngbloods don't like venting helium either. Reclamation would be a huge win, but who is going to pay for it? We would like to pay for it, but we also want to continue working which means getting new grants and not going to federal prison.