High helium reservoirs in the Four Corners area of the Colorado Plateau, USA

Halford, Daniel Thomas; Karolytė, Rūta; Barry, Peter H.; Darrah, Thomas H.; Cuzella, Jerome J.; Sonnenberg, Stephen A.; Ballentine, C. J.

doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120790

Cited by 27 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 96 publications

(153 reference statements)

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“…Besides that, the world's largest crust‐derived helium‐rich gas field, Hugoton–Panhandle gas field, also exhibits a similar trend in terms of the N 2 /He ratio as in the study area investigated in this work (Figures 4 and 12). Correlated 20 Ne/N 2 , 4 He/N 2 , and δ 15 N N2 in Hugoton–Panhandle gas field, not only shows N 2 , associated with the crustal 4 He, is from a shallow or low metamorphic‐grade source rock, similar to the 4 He, but verified the viability of groundwater system in providing the collection, transport, and focusing mechanism for the He and N 2 (Ballentine & Lollar, 2002; Cheng et al, 2023; Halford et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Moreover, the close relationship between N 2 and He supports the genesis of nitrogen via deep metamorphic sedimentation or crystallization (Jenden et al, 1988). Like the Four Corners area of the Colorado Plateau and Hugoton Panhandle gas field, the average N 2 /He ratio of the Weiyuan and Anyue gas fields is 32.35 and 44.30, respectively, suggesting the crustal N 2 (meta‐sediments/crystallization) is the primary source of He‐rich associated N 2 (Cheng et al, 2023; Halford et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…gas field, the average N 2 /He ratio of the Weiyuan and Anyue gas fields is 32.35 and 44.30, respectively, suggesting the crustal N 2 (meta-sediments/crystallization) is the primary source of He-rich associated N 2 (Cheng et al, 2023;Halford et al, 2022).…”

Section: Origins Of Helium and Nitrogenmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Mechanisms of helium differential enrichment and helium‐nitrogen coupling: A case study from the Weiyuan and Anyue gas fields, Sichuan Basin, China

Zhao,

Wang,

Liu

et al. 2023

Geological Journal

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The helium (He) contents of the Weiyuan and Anyue gas fields in the Sichuan Basin (China) differ significantly despite their similar helium‐nitrogen (N2) coupling characteristics, that is, the positive correlation between the N2 and He contents, and the negative correlation between the nitrogen/helium (N2/He) ratio and depth. To determine the factors influencing the differential enrichment of He resources and He–N2 coupling in the Weiyuan and Anyue gas fields, this study analysed the compositions of natural gases within the study area and established a computational model for evaluating the dissolution and exsolution amount of He and N2 in the pore water. The results indicated that: the uplift of the basement granite was crucial for the exsolution and enrichment of dissolved helium, and it was also the main reason for He–N2 coupling. The differential uplift that occurred in the Leshan–Longnvsi palaeo‐uplift during the Himalayan period further promoted the differential enrichment of He resources, thus also impacting the N2/He ratio in the study area. The distinct quantities of N2 and He exsolution during the uplift directly affected the negative correlation between the N2/He ratio and the depth. Within the same depth range of the uplift, the average and variations of the N2/He ratio in the crust‐derived helium‐rich natural gas reservoir were inversely proportional to the in situ molar partial pressure of He. The uplift of the crystalline basement is an important mechanism that causes the enrichment of helium resources and the coupling of helium‐nitrogen in the crust‐derived helium‐rich natural gas reservoir, which is of great significance for understanding the variation of N2/He ratio and exploration of He resources.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanisms of helium differential enrichment and helium‐nitrogen coupling: A case study from the Weiyuan and Anyue gas fields, Sichuan Basin, China

Zhao,

Wang,

Liu

et al. 2023

Geological Journal

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“…Due to its unique physical and chemical properties, helium is widely used in high-tech fields and applications such as nuclear industry, superconducting materials, medical treatments, aerospace, and so on. Especially in the ultra-low-temperature field (<1 k), helium has an irreplaceable position [1,2]. Although helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen, accounting for approximately 24% of the total elemental mass of the universe, helium concentration on earth is very low, and this gas is in short supply.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Spatial-Resolution Helium Detection and Its Implications for Helium Accumulation Mechanisms

Lu,

Wang,

Zhu

et al. 2024

Applied Sciences

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Helium is a scarce strategic resource. Currently, all economically valuable helium resources are found in natural gas reservoirs. Owing to helium’s different formation and migration processes compared to natural gas’s, the traditional method of collecting wellhead gas to detect helium concentration may miss helium-rich layers in the vertical direction, which will not only cause the waste of helium resources, but also restrict the study of helium migration and accumulation mechanisms. To solve this problem, we designed a helium detector based on a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Through the combination of different inlet valves, we avoided gas mixing between different vertical layers during the inlet process and realized high-spatial-resolution helium concentration detection. We applied the helium detector to the Dongsheng gas field in the northern Ordos Basin, and the instrumental detection results were consistent with the laboratory analysis results of the wellhead gas, which demonstrated the stability of the helium detector in the field environment and the reliability of the data. Meanwhile, the results showed that the distribution of helium in the plane is highly heterogeneous, and the natural gas dessert layers and the helium dessert layers do not coincide in the vertical direction. In addition, we found a good correlation between helium and hydrogen concentrations. Combining our results with previous data, we propose a hydrogen–helium migration and accumulation model, which enriches the understanding of helium accumulation mechanisms and provides a basis for future helium resource exploration.

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“…Reactions with helium gas can cause a variety of climate changes depending on temperature and impact [5]. The main effects can be expressed as the effect of temperature, the effect of pressure, Bernoulli's principle, Reynolds number, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study on Temperature and Pressure Characteristics in a Vessel as Charging Time of Helium Gas Changes

Park,

Choi,

Kim

2023

Applied Sciences

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The main propose in this research work is to investigate the temperature and pressure increase resulting from the variable valve of a mass flow controller during the charging and discharging of helium gas, which is being used as an alternative to hydrogen gas in a vessel. In the operation of this experiment, the high-pressure gas stored in the main tank is first reduced to low pressure using an electronic solenoid valve within a regulator to control the flow rate. Subsequently, the flow rate is precisely measured using an MFC (Mass Flow Controller) and supplied to the experimental tank. Throughout this process, temperature and pressure sensors detect changes in physical behavior, collect data using LabVIEW cDAQ, and repeat the process of analyzing and verifying reliable data according to the experiment’s conditions. The mass flow controller valve opening was set at 20%, 60%, and 100% while operating the LabVIEW programming. Also, this experiment was conducted at 20 °C ambient temperature and 0 bar gauge pressure. Both the temperature and pressure increase as the MFC valve opens further because the helium gas flow is accumulating during the valve opening time. Furthermore, in the case of helium temperature, it increases significantly when the gas is charged rapidly, compared to the pressure characteristics. Therefore, one can see that the vessel increases as the valve opening time increases, and the temperature changes; the temperature is more significant when the helium gas is charged rapidly during the valve opening time.

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High helium reservoirs in the Four Corners area of the Colorado Plateau, USA

Cited by 27 publications

References 96 publications

Mechanisms of helium differential enrichment and helium‐nitrogen coupling: A case study from the Weiyuan and Anyue gas fields, Sichuan Basin, China

Mechanisms of helium differential enrichment and helium‐nitrogen coupling: A case study from the Weiyuan and Anyue gas fields, Sichuan Basin, China

High-Spatial-Resolution Helium Detection and Its Implications for Helium Accumulation Mechanisms

A Study on Temperature and Pressure Characteristics in a Vessel as Charging Time of Helium Gas Changes

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