Labs that rely on helium gas are facing a major crisis…unless they have LECO instruments. Due to the military conflict in the Middle East, Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest helium production hub, providing one-third of the world’s helium, has shut down operations. To make matters worse, the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane used to export helium, has also been closed, meaning even pre-filled helium containers are stuck with no viable route to customers. Naturally, the price of helium has now risen dramatically; most spot prices have doubled. A critical scarcity issue is looming as the world must now operate on roughly 5.2 million cubic meters per month less of helium.
Why Helium Cost and Supply Matters to Labs
Although many people may recognize helium as the gas that fills party balloons, it plays a critical role in much more serious matters. Helium has unique properties, like an extremely low boiling point, inertness, and high thermal conductivity, which makes it indispensable in several high-tech applications.
For example, research labs may use helium as a carrier gas when performing elemental analyses or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, which is used to separate and identify chemical compounds in samples. But research labs are often government-funded and run under strict budgets, so the price hike on helium could mean labs have to pause their research until everything falls back under control, which could be months or longer. Even well-funded labs could suffer if the supply is simply too stretched to equip the lab with what they need, as medical uses are given top priority. This could have a serious impact on accuracy and compliance with regulated methods.
The Consequences Reach Farther
When helium becomes unavailable or prohibitively expensive, the ripple effects are immediate and far-reaching. It affects more than just balloons and research labs:
- Delayed Medical Diagnostics: MRI machines, which rely on helium to cool their superconducting magnets, may be taken offline, delaying critical scans.
- Semiconductor Bottlenecks: Chip shortages could worsen, impacting everything from smartphones to electric vehicles and AI infrastructure.
- Industrial Disruption: Welding, aerospace, and fiber optics manufacturing face rising costs and potential production halts.
LECO’s Solution: Instruments That Don’t Rely on Helium
Amidst this pending crisis, LECO offers a practical and forward-thinking solution. This marks the 5th major helium supply crisis since 2006, and it’s likely there will be more after this. Helium supply is concentrated to just a few regions, meaning that any time there is a disruption to one of these, it can create a large effect on the industry. That’s why we designed our innovative analytical instruments to operate using alternative carrier gases.
Depending on the instrument, alternative gases such as nitrogen, argon, or hydrogen may be used in place of helium. These gases are abundant, cost-effective, and less prone to the geopolitical volatility that plagues helium supply chains.
LECO’s helium-free options ensure that operations stay online, efficient, and future-proof in a world where helium is becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. This flexibility is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. If your lab or facility is feeling the pressure of helium scarcity, now is the time to explore alternatives. This isn’t the first helium shortage, and it won’t be the last. Is your lab prepared?
LECO Instruments Supporting Non-Helium Carrier Gases
| Instrument / Series | Supported Carrier Gases | Notes on Usage / Limitations | App Note |
| Pegasus BT (Bench-Top GC–TOFMS, incl. BT 4D) | Helium or Hydrogen | Supports H₂ as GC carrier with a retrofit kit for safety. Performance on hydrogen is on par with helium – the Pegasus BT series meets its full sensitivity specs with either gas. | “A Rapid, Robust and Sensitive Analysis of Tea Tree Essential Oil Quality by GC-TOFMS with Hydrogen as Carrier Gas” |
| Pegasus BTX (Next-gen BT, incl. BTX 4D) | Helium or Hydrogen | Designed for seamless helium-to-hydrogen use. The Pegasus BTX series maintains trace-level sensitivity with either helium or hydrogen carrier gas, a rare capability in GC–MS. No hardware changes needed beyond standard setup. | “Ginger Oil Analysis and Grade Differentiation with Pegasus BTX Using Hydrogen Carrier Gas” |
| Pegasus HRT (High-Resolution TOF-MS, incl. 4D) | Helium or Hydrogen | High-resolution GC–TOFMS systems support H₂ as a carrier gas as well as He. Note: Strict safety protocols apply due to hydrogen’s flammability. Hydrogen use is not recommended in instruments/configurations where gas could accumulate (e.g. very long, vertical flight tubes), but LECO’s HRT instruments utilize Folded Flight Path technology, which eliminates this concern. | “GC–MS Analysis with Hydrogen Carrier Gas on GC×GC-HRTOFMS (MMS Ion Source)” |
| LECO 828 Series | Helium or Argon | The LECO 828 Series supports argon as an alternative carrier gas to helium. Helium provides higher TCD sensitivity (important for low-N samples), whereas argon operation raises the nitrogen detection limit and slightly reduces low-range precision. Switching gas type simply requires updating the method and flow settings (no hardware change required). | “Carbon, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen in Biomass using CHN828” |
| LECO 928 Series | Helium or Argon | The LECO 928 Series also supports argon carrier gas as an alternative to helium. Helium use gives the best sensitivity and lowest detection limits for nitrogen, while argon use increases analysis time slightly and raises the nitrogen detection limit (due to the smaller thermal conductivity difference). The 928-series instruments have built-in settings for either gas; when switching, users adjust flow and select the appropriate carrier gas in the system settings. Users also have the option to select a larger aliquot loop in the analysis method to improve precision. | “Determination of Carbon and Nitrogen in Carbon Black and Graphite” |
| 736/836 Series (Inert Gas Fusion O2/N2 /H2 analyzers) | Helium or Argon | LECO’s inert gas fusion analyzers for oxygen and nitrogen in inorganic materials (e.g. models ON736, ON836) traditionally use helium as the carrier for the TCD measuring N2. These systems can run on argon as well, provided the appropriate He/Ar dual-purpose TCD is installed. Switching from He to Ar in these instruments is a one-time setup change; both gases are supported in the software (selectable “Gas Type” setting). When using argon, the furnace runs hotter and produces more soot, so maintenance (filter changes, cleaning) becomes more frequent. Low-level nitrogen precision is also slightly lessened with argon. | “Determination of Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Hydrogen in Iron, Steel, Nickel-base, and Cobalt-base Alloys: Comparison of Analytical Performance Between Argon and Helium Carrier” |
| DH603 Hydrogen Determinator | Nitrogen (carrier), Helium (calibration gas) | The DH603 measures diffusible and residual hydrogen in metals by hot extraction. It does not use helium as a carrier during analysis—instead it uses nitrogen as the purge/carrier gas in the TCD system. A small helium dose is used only for calibration and system checks (to introduce a known H2 quantity via He-H2 mix). In routine operation, the furnace is purged with N2 and any hydrogen released from the sample is carried to a TCD that references against the nitrogen background. This design avoids flammable gas in the instrument entirely. | “Hydrogen Determination in Steel Samples Using DH603” |
