Air Liquide, the giant industrial gas manufacturer, has entered into a long-term agreement with Laurentis Energy Partners, a leader in the clean-energy industry, to produce/purify and distribute helium-3 (3He). 3He is a rare isotope of helium used in deep cryogenics, quantum computing, quantum science, astrophysics, neutron detection, medical imaging and, in the future, fusion. Thanks to this new partnership, Air Liquide will be able to deliver large quantities of helium-3 to its customers around the world.
Laurentis
Energy Partners will extract helium-3 as a by-product of the energy produced by
the Darlington power generating station in Canada. As an expert in gas
management and extreme cryogenics, Air Liquide will purify the molecule, then
package and distribute it to its customers globally. Production was reported to
be commencing shortly.
Though
the gas 3He can be used in many nuclear science applications, a
cryogenics expert expects the main application of the new supply of 3He
to be in quantum computing, which requires operating temperatures near 0 K. In
September 2021, Air Liquide made an initial investment in this area when it
purchased an 80% stake in the 3He-4He dilution equipment maker
CryoConcept.
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Air
Liquide Enters a long-term partnership to Secure its supply of helium-3
Source: Air Liquide