IIT Bombay recently inaugurated its Liquid Helium Plant, funded under the Institute of Eminence (IoE) scheme, a landmark investment fueled by its expanding research in cryogenic engineering, superconductivity, quantum computing and sensing, photonics, healthcare, space exploration, green energy, and superconducting devices. 

Located at the Refrigeration and Cryogenics Laboratory, N5 Bay, Department of Mechanical Engineering, the plant employs a modified Claude cycle, producing over 56 liters per hour. Its helium recovery system recaptures gas post-experiment, reducing costs tenfold and conserving a rare resource, ensuring sustained support for IIT Bombay’s cutting-edge research.

The inauguration featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony and addresses by Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Director; Prof. K.V.K. Rao, former Deputy Director (FIA); Prof. Milind Atrey, Deputy Director (ART); Prof. Atul Sharma, Head, Mechanical Engineering and Prof. Ramaswamy Murugavel, PiC-IoE.

Prof. Kedare, Prof. Rao and Prof. Atrey highlighted the facility’s critical role in addressing scientific challenges across IIT Bombay’s engineering and science disciplines. They emphasized liquid helium’s applications in elucidating protein structures for drug and vaccine development, mapping brain activity for neurological studies, and enabling ultrafast, lossless computing and ultrasensitive sensors, infrared telescopes, aerospace materials, superconducting machinery, magnetic levitation systems, high-efficiency electric motors and MRI technologies. They further expressed gratitude to the Dean IPS’s office, MMD, Audit, and Finance staff for their pivotal contributions. Prof. Sharma underscored the Mechanical Engineering Department’s distinguished cryogenics legacy, while Prof. Murugavel emphasized the facility’s importance for low-temperature science and the IoE scheme’s support.

Prof. Dipanshu Bansal, who is the Incharge faculty of the Helium Plant, ensured smooth installation and commissioning of this plant, which lasted over 1 year.