• 9964432222
  • Mail Us
  • Appointment
  • Locate Us
  • Chat Now
  • Courses
  • Login
  • Register
Manifest IAS
JournalsOfIndia
Manifest Learning Academy
  • Home
  • SNIPPETSfor Prelims
  • ARTICLESfor Mains
  • BROWSEBY SOURCE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • SNIPPETSfor Prelims
  • ARTICLESfor Mains
  • BROWSEBY SOURCE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result
JournalsOfIndia
No Result
View All Result
Home Geography

Crisis of Helium in India

March 23, 2021
in Geography
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Crisis of Helium in India
1.5k
VIEWS
Share on WhatsAppShare on TelegramShare on Facebook
image_pdfMake PDF

In News: India imports the majority of helium for its domestic needs. However, the U.S appears to cut off exports of helium from 2021. Hence, the Indian industry may have to find an alternative.

About Helium

  • Helium (He) is an inert gas of Group 18 (noble gases) of the periodic table.
  • The second lightest element (only hydrogen is lighter), helium is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that becomes liquid at −268.9 °C (−452 °F).
  • The boiling and freezing points of helium are lower than those of any other known substance.
  • Helium is the only element that cannot be solidified by sufficient cooling at normal atmospheric pressure; it is necessary to apply pressure of 25 atmospheres at a temperature of1 K (−272 °C, or −458 °F) to convert it to its solid form.

Abundance of Helium

  • Helium constitutes about 23 percent of the mass of the universe and is thus second in abundance to hydrogen in the cosmos. Helium is concentrated in stars, where it is synthesized from hydrogen by nuclear fusion.
  • Although helium occurs in Earth’s atmosphere only to the extent of 1 part in 200,000 (0.0005percent) and small amounts occur in radioactive minerals, meteoric iron, and mineral springs,great volumes of helium are found as a component (up to 7.6 percent) in natural gases in the United States (especially in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Utah).
  • Smaller supplies have been discovered in Algeria, Australia, Poland, Qatar, and Russia.Ordinary air contains about 5 parts per million of helium, and Earth’s crust is only about 8 parts per billion.

Uses of Helium

  • Helium is used as a cooling medium for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and the superconducting magnets in MRI scanners and NMR spectrometers.
  • It is also used to keep satellite instruments cool and was used to cool the liquid oxygen and hydrogen that powered the Apollo space vehicles.
  • Because of its low-density helium is often used to fill decorative balloons, weather balloons and airships.
  • Because it is very unreactive, helium is used to provide an inert protective atmosphere for making fibre optics and semiconductors, and for arc welding.
  • Helium is also used to detect leaks, such as in car air-conditioning systems, and because it diffuses quickly it is used to inflate car airbags after impact.
  • A mixture of 80% helium and 20% oxygen is used as an artificial atmosphere for deep-sea divers and others working under pressurized conditions.
  • Helium-neon gas lasers are used to scan barcodes in supermarket checkouts.
  • A new use for helium is a helium-ion microscope that gives better image resolution than a scanning electron microscope.

Why does India need Helium?

  • India imports helium worth Rs 55,000 crores from the U.S. to meet its needs, Every year.
  • Used in medicine, scientific research, for blimp inflation, party balloons as well as having welding applications.
  • Many other applications as well mainly in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, in rockets and in nuclear reactors.
image_pdfMake PDF
Source: The Hindu
Tags: News PaperPrelims

Related Posts

Shaligram stone

Shaligram stone

February 4, 2023
Green comet appearing close to Earth after 50,000 years

Green comet appearing close to Earth after 50,000 years

January 25, 2023
The first evidence of the presence of solitary waves in Mars reported

The first evidence of the presence of solitary waves in Mars reported

January 18, 2023
Europe’s largest known deposit of rare earth elements found in Sweden

Europe’s largest known deposit of rare earth elements found in Sweden

January 14, 2023
Evidence of mantle plume beneath the surface of the red planet

Evidence of mantle plume beneath the surface of the red planet

January 14, 2023
Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express

January 12, 2023
What is a cold wave?

What is a cold wave?

January 11, 2023
Airglow can make sky green, yellow and red  colours

Airglow can make sky green, yellow and red colours

January 10, 2023
Tidal disruption event or destruction of a star by a black hole

Tidal disruption event or destruction of a star by a black hole

January 2, 2023
Joshimath in Uttarakhand is sinking

Joshimath in Uttarakhand is sinking

December 31, 2022
Please login to join discussion
JournalsOfIndia

Our vision is to orient the readers to grasp the facts objectively and analyse critically. In the rush of reaching first to the readers, the websites miss the balanced opinion, which is the need of the hour. We aim to reach the readers with more crispness, preciseness and relevance. We bring the articles in UPSC way for the civil services aspirants and the Wisest Way for general readers.

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Disaster Management
  • Economy
  • Environment
  • Ethics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Geography
  • Governance
  • History
  • Law & Policy
  • Opinion
  • People in News
  • Places in News
  • Science & Tech
  • Security
  • Society
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized

Browse by Tag

AIR All India Radio BBC Business Line Business Standard dow Down to Earth DownToEarth DTE Economic Times ET FAO Financial Express GS-1 GS-2 GS-3 GS-4 Hindustan Times IE India & the world Indian express Indiatoday India today Kurukshetra Livelihoods portal LiveMint Mains News News Paper Newspaper PIB Prelims PRS India RSTV Science Reporter Survey The Hindu The India Express The Indian Express The Print the wire Times of India TOI TOPPERS Yojana

Newsletter

The most important UPSC news and events of the day.

Get Journals daily newsletter on your inbox.

© 2020 JournalsOfIndia - A free initiative by Manifest Team.

  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • SNIPPETS
  • ARTICLES
  • BROWSE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result

© 2020 JournalsOfIndia - A free initiative by Manifest Team.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In