据气体世界网2022年5月6日报道，“世界上第一个”太阳能氦气加工设备日前已开始制造。  

沙漠山能源公司（Desert Mountain Energy）是位于美国亚利桑那州的麦考利氦气加工厂的幕后英雄，该氦气加工厂将利用太阳能以一种环保的方式生产和加工氦气。

除了其太阳能功能，麦考利氦气加工厂还将使用麦考利氦气田发现的氢气作为备用能源。

为了进一步提高效率，沙漠山能源公司团队设计的加工设备大部分采用了现成的组件和连接，并采用了最高的结构强度，以确保长使用期限。

沙漠山能源公司首席执行官罗伯特·罗尔芬表示：“我们很高兴GENERON公司已经开始在麦考利氦气加工设施上组装。 沙漠山能源公司已经证明，我们能够发现氦气，这家氦气加工厂将证明，我们可以直接生产氦气、加工氦气和把氦气销售给终端用户?！?/p>

“麦考利氦气加工厂启动是我们目标的一个主要组成部分，计划在第三季度某个时候完成。全球氦气供应仍然严重短缺，沙漠山能源公司正努力成为解决方案的一部分?！?/p>

就在几天前，美国咨询公司恩布鲁斯氦气咨询公司总裁菲尔· 恩布鲁斯告诉气体世界网记者，最近的一些进展预示着今年下半年氦气供应的改善。  

李峻 编译自 气体世界网

原文如下：

‘World’s first’ solar-powered helium processing facility under construction

Fabrication has begun on the ‘world’s first’ solar-powered helium processing facility.

Desert Mountain Energy is behind the McCauley helium processing facility, based in Arizona, US, that will use solar energy to produce and process helium in a environmentally friendly manner.

In addition to its solar energy capabilities, the site will also use hydrogen discovered in the McCauley helium field as a back-up energy source. 

To further boost efficiency, the Desert Mountain Energy team have designed the processing facility with mostly off-the-shelf components and connections with the highest structural strengths to ensure a long-life span.

Robert Rohlfing, CEO of Desert Mountain Energy, said, “We are excited that GENERON has begun assembly on the McCauley helium processing facility. Desert Mountain Energy has proven that we can discover helium and the plant will demonstrate that we can produce, process and sell it directly to end-users.”

“Plant start-up, which is scheduled for completion sometime in the third quarter, is a major component of our goals. The worldwide helium supply continues to be in critically short supply and Desert Mountain Energy is striving to be part of the solution.”

News of the news site comes just days after Phil Kornbluth, President of Kornbluth Helium Consulting, told gasworld that there have been several recent developments that bode well for improved supply during the second half of 2022.