From cooling superconducting magnets in particle accelerators to fueling spacecraft and powering MRI machines, helium is one of the most indispensable elements in modern science and industry. Yet producing it at ultra-pure levels has remained a daunting engineering challenge. A team in China now claims to have solved that problem.
Vacree Technologies, a cryogenic and vacuum technology firm based in Yan’an, has unveiled a helium purification system that can take low-abundance natural gas sources and refine them into gas with a purity of 99.99997 percent. Known as 6N9 grade, this level means that out of one million helium molecules, only a single impurity molecule remains.
According to Science and Technology Daily, the device is the first of its kind in China capable of continuous operation, and it can produce up to 400,000 cubic meters of helium each year. Independent evaluations have confirmed that the output meets world-class standards.
The breakthrough stems from six years of work led by scientist Rong Chengxu. The team’s process layers several purification techniques: catalytic dehydrogenation removes hydrogen impurities, membrane separation and pressure swing adsorption strip away nitrogen and methane, and ultra-low-temperature refining eliminates neon. The result is helium so clean that neon impurities fall below 0.3 parts per million, an achievement that pushes China beyond the “6N” benchmark to 6N9, a level few facilities worldwide can match.
Vacree’s chief engineer Zhang Xuehua called the innovation a milestone for China’s strategic resource security, pointing out that ultra-pure helium is not only a commercial commodity but a critical enabler of national scientific and aerospace capabilities.
That security is especially significant because helium is a finite, nonrenewable element. Once released into the atmosphere, it drifts irretrievably into space. Most of the global supply comes as a byproduct of natural gas production, with the United States, Qatar, and Algeria among the top producers. But China’s reserves present a particular challenge: its natural gas fields contain helium concentrations of just 0.03 to 0.05 percent, compared to international helium-rich fields that can hold between 1 and 7 percent.
This disparity has long forced China to rely on imports to meet the needs of sectors that require helium at ultra-high purity. Traditional methods such as cryogenic separation and pressure swing adsorption could not achieve the necessary purity when working with such low-concentration reserves. By pushing past those limits, the new Vacree system closes a technological gap that has hindered the country’s autonomy in this domain.
The development comes as helium’s status as a strategic resource grows worldwide. In recent years, supply shortages have triggered sharp price increases and strained industries ranging from semiconductor fabrication to aerospace. A study by IDTechEx forecasts that global demand for helium could double by 2035.