Hifadhi kubwa zaidi ya gesi ya Helium yagunduliwa Tanzania

• Hifadhi kubwa zaidi ya gesi ya Helium yagunduliwa Tanzania

Tanzania ni miongoni mwa mataifa machache duniani yaliyojaliwa kuwa na rasilimali na madini mengi.

Na baada ya kugunduliwa kwa gesi asili huko Mtwara na dhahabu sasa watafiti kutoka Uingereza wamegundua hifadhi kubwa zaidi duniani ya gesi adimu zaidi ya Helium nchini Tanzania.

Watafiti kutoka chuo kikuu cha Oxford na kile cha Durham kwa ushirikiano na wataalumu wa madini kutoka Norway wamegundua uwepo wa takriban futi bilioni 54 za gesi hiyo ya barafu kama inavyofahamika.

Ugunduzi huo umefanyika katika eneo la bonde la ufa la Tanzania.

Katika taarifa kwa wanahabri huko Japan, watafiti hao wanasema kuwa uhaba wa gesi hiyo kote duniani ulikuwa umesababisha taharuki haswa kwa madaktari ambao wanatumia gesi hiyo adimu kuendesha mashine za utabibu zijulikanazo kama MRI scanners, mbali na kutumika katika mitambo ya kinyuklia miongoni mwa sekta zingine nyingi za kawi na teknolojia.

Kabla ugunduzi huo watafiti walikuwa wamebashiri ukosefu wa gesi hiyo baridi ifikapo mwaka wa 2035.

Wataalumu wa madini kutoka Norway wamegundua uwepo wa takriban futi bilioni 54 za gesi hiyo ya barafu kama inavyofahamika.
Mnamo mwaka wa 2010 Mwanfisikia mshindi wa tuzo la Nobel Robert Richardson alikuwa ametabiri kumalizika kabisa kwa gesi hiyo.

Ukosefu huo ulikuwa umesababisha wataalamu kuhimiza kutungwa kwa sheria itakayopunguza matumizi yake katika bidhaa zisizo za dharura kama vile kwenye vibofu kutokana na hali ya kuwa gesi hiyo ya Helium ni nyepesi kuliko ile ya Oxygen.

''Gesi tuliyoipata huko Tanzania inaweza kujaza silinda za gesi milioni moja nukta mbili za mashine za MRI'' alisema Chris Ballentine kutoka chuo kikuu cha Oxford.

MATUMIZI YA HELIUM

HELIUM ilitumika kupoza mitambo ya Apollo.

Inatumika kwenye vifaa vya matibabu (MRI, NMR).

HELIUM inatumika kwenye Rockets, Balloons, Arc welding and Leakage detection.

Tutavuka

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In research presented at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference, researchers from the United Kingdom announced that they have successfully located a massive source of helium underground in the East African Rift Valley, a highly volcanically active area in Africa. All the more remarkable, they found the natural helium reserve on their first try.

"We sampled helium gas (and nitrogen) just bubbling out of the ground in the Tanzanian East African Rift valley.

By combining our understanding of helium geochemistry with seismic images of gas trapping structures, independent experts have calculated a probable resource of 54 billion cubic feet (BCf) in just one part of the rift valley." Chris Ballentine, a researcher on the project said. "This is enough to fill over 1.2 million medical MRI scanners.

To put this discovery into perspective, global consumption of helium is about 8 BCf per year and the United States Federal Helium Reserve, which is the world's largest supplier, has a current reserve of just 24.2 BCf.

Total known reserves in the USA are around 153 BCf. This is a game changer for the future security of society's helium needs and similar finds in the future may not be far away."

The researchers, partnered by a Norwegian exploration company called Helium One were looking at the Rift Valley for a reason. Researchers knew that volcanoes (including Yellowstone) often had helium sources nearby.

Future research will likely look at narrowing down the areas where governments and companies can successfully prospect for helium.

"We show that volcanoes in the Rift play an important role in the formation of viable helium reserves. Volcanic activity likely provides the heat necessary to release the helium accumulated in ancient crustal rocks.

However, if gas traps are located too close to a given volcano, they run the risk of helium being heavily diluted by volcanic gases such as carbon dioxide, just as we see in thermal springs from the region.

We are now working to identify the 'goldilocks-zone' between the ancient crust and the modern volcanoes where the balance between helium release and volcanic dilution is 'just right'," said Diveena Danabalan, lead author of the research.
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