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discovered_02_2013

discovered 02.13 FOCUS WWW.Hzdr.DE Algeria, Qatar, and Russia. The one that’s closest to us is Wroclaw, but that one is small by comparison. Europe’s helium supply is highly dependent on the refineries at these larger sources as well as on overseas transports. In case there is a problem, this is instantly reflected by supply bottlenecks. What does the HZDR need the helium for and what are the associated costs? This year, we ordered 100,000 liters at the HZDR, and some 70 percent of that amount we need at the HLD. We use the helium for low temperature experiments. We also use it as a coolant for our superconducting magnets. True, we collect the helium and sell it back to our supplier, but unfortunately we only ever recoup a small part of the original cost. Each year, the whole affair is costing us several hundreds of thousands of Euros. Are there alternatives to helium cooling? No, not really. True, there are such things as closed cryosystems, but their main advantage – no helium losses – goes hand in hand with a high electric energy consumption and, unfortunately, with vibrations as well which have a negative impact on a number of precision-measurement techniques. Furthermore, it would be a huge effort to retrofit all of the measuring setups. Did you already begin to feel the bottleneck? Definitely! Especially in October and December of last year we were sitting and waiting in vain for weeks for the helium we had ordered. Thankfully, we were able to serve those users that had traveled far to do research at the HZDR, but our own research took a real hit due to the helium scarcity and sadly this bottleneck is back again just now. Will the HZDR become fully self-sufficient once the liquefier becomes operational? Not completely. There are process and operations based losses of experimental setups, collecting systems, and high pressure storage tanks. We expect that we will incur losses of around ten percent, which is the best of what's been possible in facilities of comparative size. Our plan is to buy slightly impure helium gas – which is much cheaper than buying pure liquid helium; purification and liquefaction we can do here at our own facility. The extension building was finished in a matter of months, was that just in time? Yes, I think so. All suppliers are predicting that a crisis is impending. When exactly it will arrive in its full scope, nobody knows. We're happy that our approach to using helium as a resource is future-oriented and that we noticed the first signs of the crisis. The fact that the HZDR's board of directors acted so supportive in acquiring the helium liquefaction facility and that Mr. Reichelt's team [Editor's note: Central Department Technical Services] was able to make the add-on happen in record time was essential. This way, we will be able to ensure future research activities of our own staff as well as external user groups. Contact _Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory at HZDR Dr. Thomas Herrmannsdörfer t.herrmannsdoerfer@hzdr.de GREATER CAPACITY: To meet the increased demand for measurement time in highest magnetic fields, an extension to the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory will open its doors for external users as of 2014.

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