Air Products (AP) recently reached a milestone at its newest helium production facility in Colorado by filling its 100th helium ISO container.

AP’ Doe Canyon plant is the only one in the world extracting helium from a gas stream composed primarily of carbon dioxide (CO2). Most of the helium produced today is a by-product of natural gas (methane) processing. However, not all natural gas fields contain helium and, in fact, very few gas fields have high enough helium concentrations to make it economical for extraction.

In this case, the naturally-occurring gas is composed primarily of carbon dioxide, and it contains high enough concentrations of helium to make extraction economical.

The Doe Canyon plant is expected to produce up to 230 million cubic feet of helium per year, which can replace more than 15 percent of the current U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reserve helium supply as that system declines.