MRI: Track 3 Acquisition of a Campus-wide Helium Liquefication Plant for the University of Colorado Boulder

Liquid helium is critical for a great many of the research needs at the University of Colorado Boulder, particularly with the extensive recent and coming growth in the areas of quantum sciences and engineering. The Physics Department has operated a helium liquefier for almost two decades, while also providing liquid to other users across campus. Unfortunately, the present liquefier is of a style and age that is extremely complicated to run and maintain and it is no longer supported by the manufacturer.

The present project includes replacing the existing liquefier with a much more modern and simple system, that due to its design will have much higher reliability. The infrastructure for supporting such a facility is already in-place and will be reutilized. Other infrastructure across our campus is also in-place, as the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facilities in both Chemistry and the Biofrontiers Institute, which operate 7 distinct superconducting-magnet NMR instruments, have helium capture and compression facilities, but will have no way to reliquefy the helium.

A similar capture and compression facility will be installed in Engineering as part of this project, enabling it to serve all present liquid helium needs in the campus - including 40 different research groups representing 8 Departments, 3 Colleges, and 5 Research institutes. The impact on the teaching program will also be strong – the superconducting-magnet NMR systems are directly utilized in 5 distinct undergraduate courses with an enrollment of ~ 1300 students/year.

Liquid helium is critical for a great many of the research needs at the University of Colorado Boulder, particularly with the extensive recent and coming growth in the areas of quantum sciences and engineering. The Physics Department has operated a helium liquefier for almost two decades, while also providing liquid to other users across campus. Unfortunately, the present liquefier is of a style and age that is extremely complicated to run and maintain and it is no longer supported by the manufacturer.

The present proposal includes replacing the existing liquefier with a much more modern and simple system based upon pulse-tube technology, that due to its design will have much higher reliability. The infrastructure for supporting such a facility, including piping and gas monitoring from across the Physics/JILA complex is already in-place and will be reutilized.

Other infrastructure across the campus is also in-place, as the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facilities in both Chemistry and the Biofrontiers Institute, which operate 7 distinct superconducting-magnet NMR instruments, have helium capture and compression facilities, but will have no way to reliquefy the helium. A similar capture and compression facility will be installed in Engineering as part of this project, enabling it to serve all present liquid helium needs in the campus.

Many of the experimental systems can’t be replaced by “dry” or recirculating helium systems, due for example to the need for ultra-low vibrations. In addition to the work on quantum systems in Physics, JILA, and Engineering, the NMR systems serve 40 different research groups representing 8 Departments, 3 Colleges, and 5 Research institutes. The impact on teaching program will also be strong – the superconducting-magnet NMR systems are directly utilized in 5 distinct undergraduate courses with an enrollment of ~ 1300 students/year.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.