Rapid continuous radiochemical separations by thermochromatography in connection with a gas-jet recoil-transport system

A combination of a gas-jet recoil-transport system with a thermochromatographic system has been studied as a technique for rapid, continuous radiochemical separations. Fission products were used as a model for complex mixtures of elements. A nitrogen gas-jet containing potassium chloride clusters was applied to transport nuclides produced in a reactor from the target area to the thermochromatographic column. Conversion of the reaction products carried by the gas-jet into volatile species was achieved by stopping the clusters in a quartz-wool plug located in the column and kept at high temperatures and feeding a reactive gas into the column. Several reactive gases producing volatile chlorides have been investigated. It is shown that this technique allows, in addition, the determination of thermodynamic quantities of the volatile species at a tracer scale. (orig.)