Hydrogen and Helium Exploration using new soil gas methods
Historically, Rudiger Re-chem utilized its proprietary soil gas methodology and sampling probes for Uranium, Thorium and Hydrocarbon exploration. Recently, there has been an increased interest in exploration of Hydrogen and Helium. The Exploration of Hydrogen and Helium use the same basic principles that had evolved for Uranium and Thorium exploration, therefore the transition to explore these specific elements was a simple and obvious next step.
Current Rudiger Re-Chem exploration offerings:
- Hydrogen (Isotopes)
- Helium (Isotopes)
- Uranium
- Thorium
- Hydrocarbons (Isotopes)
Rudiger Re-Chem is on the forefront of the development in Hydrogen and Helium exploration because of their historical exposure to the sector. The proprietary systems utilize a specific setup of probes to capture the gases coming to the surface from underground. These various probe types can be used for either direct gas sampling, which will create easier sampling for reconnaissance type surveys for initial decision making on a potential property. Methodologies have been developed throughout experimentation to retrieve the most reliable data for Hydrogen and Helium results within initial surveys. Certain historical field data is compiled and cross-referenced with the current field program to identify trends of possible data and statistical errors. Modifications of probes were implemented when Hydrogen is the focus of an exploration program. Statistical analysis is employed after the data retrieval to isolate any erroneous anomalous values not related to Hydrogen or Helium representing sources below the surface. Finally, Other chemical indicators are analyzed in the same samples. These chemical indicators are associated with Hydrogen artefacts, which help identify certain sample points that are exhibiting erroneous results, and may not be representative of the true source of the Hydrogen and Helium.
If more thorough sampling and data analysis is required, a unique probe is utilized that reduces the negative effects of direct sampling. The “Passive” probe is distributed to various points in the region of interest and uses the gas laws and time to mitigate any sampling contamination and “Dirty” sampling. The probes are positioned in the field for a 24-hour period to mitigate any uncertainty with the analytical data. Hydrogen sampling is of the utmost concern because many tools for soil gas sampling will create artefacts in the data, which does not correlate to actual Hydrogen coming from an underground source. The passive sampling system eliminates this potential error in data. The passive sampling system is very important for isotopic analysis. When a project requires the analysis of components such as Helium-3, Deuterium, Tritium or Carbon ratios, any risk of ambient contamination must be eliminated through the passive sampling method versus direct sampling.
Rudiger Re-Chem sampling methods:
- Direct soil gas probes
- Passive gas probes
- Extensive collection of field data
- Statistical verification
It should be noted that Rudiger Re-chem focuses heavily on the sampling methodology, because a great system of analytical instruments will only produce results as good as the sampling method allows. Robust and reliant sampling methods are the key in Hydrogen and Helium exploration.