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How to Measure Helium Leaks

Helium leaks are often detected using devices such as the helium mass spectrometer, which has been in use for the measurement of helium leaks since the start of the Manhattan Project during World War II. Helium gas may be used as an additive to detect and locate the source of small leaks. Using helium is an inexpensive, easy way to utilize a vacuum chamber to detect leaks because the helium will penetrate small leaks quickly, producing immediate, effective results.

Leaking container
Helium gas
Vacuum chamber
Mass spectrometer

Instructions

- 1
  Fill the leaking container with helium. The gas is used as a tracer to determine whether or not the container is leaking and, if so, where it is leaking from.
- 2
  Place the helium-filled container inside the vacuum chamber. The leak detection technique works by measuring helium as it is expelled into the vacuum chamber from the container sealed inside.
- 3
  Ionize a gas sample containing the helium using the mass spectrometer. As the helium leaks into the vacuum, it is pushed through a magnetic field, collecting the helium ions to determine the severity of the leak. Helium ions exit utilizing a different path from all other ions, making collection and measurement of helium ions fairly simple within the spectrometer tube.

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