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Robin | Mechanical Engineer
Robin | Mechanical Engineer

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Inside a Helium Charging Station Built for Helicopter Flotation Bottle Servicing

A helium charging station could just be a fill line and a compressor. Neometrix's Helium Charging Station is three integrated operations instead, because recharging a helicopter's emergency flotation bottle safely means recovering the old gas, proving the bottle can still hold pressure, and only then refilling it -- and doing that across three separate machines means a bottle handoff, and a documentation gap, at every transfer point.

Decanting comes first: a Haskel AGT-32/62 pneumatic gas booster recovers residual helium into a cylinder at approximately 125 bar, which both reclaims usable gas and leaves the bottle in a known, empty state before hydrostatic testing -- rather than carrying an unaccounted-for residual pressure into a test meant to isolate structural integrity. A Haskel ASF-100 air-driven liquid pump then pressurizes plain water up to 690 bar, with auto-stop at a preset pressure (450 bar standard, adjustable to 690 bar) so a weakened bottle can't be inadvertently over-stressed.

Every booster on the frame, gas and liquid, runs on compressed air rather than electricity -- a 20 HP compressor with refrigerated and desiccant dryers supplies -40°C dew point air to drive them. That choice buys infinitely variable cycling speed and a stall-safe characteristic at pressure: an air-driven booster simply stops pushing once it hits a pressure its drive side can't overcome, rather than continuing to force pressure upward the way an electric motor working against a stalled load might. Only a bottle that passes the 690-bar hydrostatic check proceeds to recharging with high-purity helium to 400 bar, all without leaving the skid.

Full writeup: https://neometrixgroup.com/products/helium-charging-station

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