Helium vs Argon: Cost as shielding gases

[rollingstein]

Intuitively I always thought He was more expensive than Ar as a shielding gas.

But I was reading this book about Heat Exchanger Design & it has this quote that claims "Argon is costlier than Helium" (Link below; see Bullet Point #4)https://books.google.co.in/books?id...e&q=titanium tube acceptable velocity&f=false

What gives?

 

[Nidum]

Can't comment on prices - best to get actual quotes .

This is a useful source of technical information about welding gasses :

http://www.boconline.co.uk/internet.lg.lg.gbr/en/images/shielding-gas-brochure410_80125.pdf

 

[NickAtNight]

Intuitively I always thought He was more expensive than Ar as a shielding gas.

What gives?

We use Argon.

 

[NickAtNight]

What gives?

Given its rarity in the arm relative to Argon, you would think that it would be more expensive...

Perhaps the tracking boom has increased supply?

And then there is this?

According to helium conservationists like Nobel laureate physicist Robert Coleman Richardson, the free market price of helium has contributed to "wasteful" usage (e.g. for helium balloons). Prices in the 2000s have been lowered by U.S. Congress' decision to sell off the country's large helium stockpile by 2015.[95] According to Richardson, the current price needs to be multiplied by 20 to eliminate the excessive wasting of helium. In their book, the Future of helium as a natural resource(Routledge, 2012), Nuttall, Clarke & Glowacki (2012) also proposed to create an International Helium Agency (IHA) to build a sustainable market for this precious commodity.[96]

 

[Baluncore]

The difference in price is not explained by atmospheric composition, (Ar 0.934%, He 0.000524% by volume), but by source.
Argon comes from the atmosphere as a side line to oxygen production. Helium comes from natural gas wells.
I quote; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_production_in_the_United_States

The US was the world's largest helium producer, providing 40 percent of world supply. In addition, the US federal government sold 30 million cubic meters from storage. Other major helium producers were Algeria and Qatar.
All commercial helium is recovered from natural gas. Helium usually makes up a minuscule portion of natural gas, but can make up as much as 10 percent of natural gas in some fields. A helium content of 0.3 percent or more is considered necessary for commercial helium extraction.[1] In 2012, helium was recovered at 16 extraction plants, from gas wells in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming. One extraction plant in Utah was idle in 2012.