Helium
Helium is a light gas, desirable for use in airships because as a non-reactive noble gas it is safer than hydrogen—but more difficult to produce or isolate.
Pierre Jules César Janssen first identified the unique spectrographic band for helium, known as D3, from observations of a solar eclipse in 1868. Norman Lockyer and Edward Frankland identified D3 as the sign of a new element and named it helium after Helios. William Ramsay and Lord Rayleigh in the 1890s made practical progress in the actual extraction of helium, in conjunction with their work on argon (a heavier noble gas following helium and neon).[1]
According to Richard B. Moore, Chief Chemist of the US Bureau of Mines, the serious pursuit of helium for use in dirigibles during World War I began in 1917, when the extraction of the element from natural gas in Kansas appeared possible and beneficial for the war effort. The Bureau of Mines set up several plants in Texas; meanwhile the British began similar operations in Ontario and Alberta. The first US plant began producing helium on 8 April 1918 and by September generated 4000–6000 cubic feet of 70% helium gas per day. Additional refinement was necessary to increase the percentage. By the time of armistice, the US plants had produced about 200,000 cubic feet of helium.[2]
References
- ↑ Moore, 1921, Helium, pp. 145–150.
- ↑ Moore, 1921, Helium, pp. 165–171.
Additional sources
Historical publications relevant to the discovery and exctraction of helium, but not necessarily its use in airships. Not yet indexed as publications on this site.
- Norman Lockyer ,The Sun's Place in Nature (1897)
- Cody and McFarland, "Helium in Natural Gas", Science, 14 September 1906
- R. J. Strutt, "On the Accumulation of Helium in Geological Time", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (1908), first of a series
- William J. S. Lockyer, Helium: Its Discovery and Applications (1920)
- John Cunningham McLennan, "Report on some sources of helium in the British empire" (1920)
- McLennan, "The production of helium from the natural gases of Canada (1920)
- McLennan, "[https://archive.org/details/paper-doi-10_1038_105747a0 Helium: Its Production and Uses" (1920)
- Milner, "Helium in Natural Gas" (1922)
This wiki has 0 patents in category "Helium".
Publications referring to Helium
- Rayleigh, 1896, Argon and Helium (Simple title: Argon and Helium, Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London)
- Cady and McFarland, 1906, Helium in Kansas Natural Gas (Simple title: Helium in Kansas Natural Gas, Journal: Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science)
- Stauber, 1907, Technology of gases (Simple title: Technology of gases, Journal: Pocket Book of Aeronautics)
- Publication B2p0629e31, 1909, Helium for airships (Simple title: Helium for airships, Journal: Aeronautics)
- Nature, 1919, Use of Helium for Aircraft Purposes (Simple title: The Use of Helium for Aircraft Purposes, Journal: Nature)
- Cady, 1919, Helium as a Balloon Gas (Simple title: Helium as a Balloon Gas, Journal: Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science)
- Moore, 1921, Helium (Simple title: Helium, Journal: Jounral of the Franklin Institute)
- Hartcup, 1974 (Simple title: The achievement of the airship)
| Enclosing categories | Gas |
|---|---|
| Subcategories | |
| Keywords | LTA |
| Start year | 1868 |
| End year |
