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EDMONTON – The University of Alberta is floating an idea that could make Edmonton a world leader in recycling a material crucial for MRI machines and party balloons – helium.

There’s a shortage of the gas across North America because of declining supplies and shutdowns of processing plants. As the big reserves in the United States disappear over the next few years, problems are expected to become worse.

Most helium, used mainly for medicine, research and welding, goes into the atmosphere after it’s used, says Deryck Webb, a technologist at the U of A’s National High Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Centre.

“Unfortunately, we end up blowing away up to 4.5 million cubic feet of helium every year. That’s a tremendous waste.”

Pipes are already being installed to link equipment cooled by the chemical in the biochemistry, physics, pharmacy and other departments to a campus cryogenic facility that purifies and liquefies it so it can be used again.

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The piping will cost $900,000, while the price of the high-pressure storage, purification and liquefaction equipment is about $3.5 million.

Webb is working with TEC Edmonton to study the feasibility of sending helium to the facility from hospitals and research institutions around the province and possibly across the Prairies.

This might involve putting a mobile compressor and high-pressure storage containers on a truck and trailer to visit some of the 24 MRI locations across the Alberta Health Services system, along with other sites.

There will be plenty of spare capacity at the facility to handle the possible volume, and the recycled helium could be used at the university or shipped to other organizations.

“No one in the world does this type of recovery right now,” Webb says.

“Where it will start is exactly in places like Alberta, and Edmonton particularly. We’re at the end of a very long supply route. We pay the highest prices.”

Reg Joseph, an executive in residence at non-profit TEC Edmonton, says recycling would help secure a provincial helium supply as costs continue to go up.

The U of A is one of the largest helium consumers in Alberta, so it might use what is brought in for recovery or supply other organizations, Joseph says.

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They should finish analyzing the market and developing business models, which might involve working with outside partners, by this fall.

“There are a lot of challenges in terms of security of supply for helium. What this opens up is more security, not only for the University of Alberta, but for other consumers.”

One customer Webb wanted to see come through his door was the city’s abstract inflatable float being unveiled this week for the Capital Ex parade.

While the 130 cubic metres of helium it will contain is a drop in the bucket compared with the 15,000 cubic metres used at the U of A each year, Webb said recovering gas from such a high-profile source would be educational.

“Even more than the value of the helium was the statement we were trying to make. If not now, in the very near future it’s going to be very important to recover gas from these types of events.”

The U of A would have paid about $450 for the gas from the balloon, which costs $2,000 to $3,000 to fill.

Unfortunately, the recycling scheme won’t work this year.

Coun. Kim Krushell, who sat on the Edmonton float committee, said there isn’t a practical way to transport the $80,000 art piece, titled Us, to the university after the parade.

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The city doesn’t have a truck big enough to hold the flowing fabric creation, which is 11 metres long, four metres high and seven metres wide.

Officials looked at having the 16 people who will hold the art piece in the parade carry it across the river valley, but the walk would take hours, possibly under a hot sun, and require road closures for safety, Krushell says.

“We thought it was really exciting that within Edmonton we have this University of Alberta facility that can recycle helium. I think it’s a good news story.”

Krushell couldn’t find another example of helium from a parade float being recovered, although she says it was apparently tried unsuccessfully on some of the inflatables in Macy’s New York Thanksgiving Day parade.

She hopes the float’s helium can be recycled next July 1 if it’s entered in Old Strathcona’s Silly Summer parade, which is a much shorter march to the U of A campus.

Although some organizations have had trouble finding the lighter-than-air gas for their balloons, Krushell says the city has enough for the float.

Their supplier provides helium only for welders and balloons, so medical and scientific users won’t be affected, although the float will be blown up with cold air if it’s displayed at any other parades or festivals this year, she says.

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“Given that this is the first public art piece in an inflatable format, we’re going to unveil it as designed. It’s designed for people to walk under it.”

The U of A’s Webb says the difficulties with bringing the float to his facility highlight the need for a portable helium recovery system.

Although inflatables are a tiny fraction of world helium consumption, one day balloons left over from a child’s birthday party might have a more worthwhile end than slowly losing their gas and sagging to the floor.

“I can imagine in the future, when you bring your balloon to the grocery store, you get a dime back,” Webb says.

“You’re going to have to pay a deposit, and when you bring the balloons back you get it back, but we’re not that desperate yet.”

