Isotope separation by con-current gas centrifuge, (1)

Both the separation factor and the separative power of a con-current gas centrifuge have been studied in relation to the gas feed rate and the effective length of the rotor. The differential equation of centrifugal separation through (n+1) cylindrical thin con-current streams has been derived, and solved in the cases of n=1 and 2. The relations of the gas feed rate per length of the rotor to both the separation factor and the separative power have been compared with those in the case of counter-current flow which are varied with the ratio of length of rotor to the radius, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. It has been found that the gas feed rates in the counter-current flows need extremely less values than the con-current flow rates to get the identical separative power, however the gas circulating rates in the counter-current flow are comparable. From the analysis of three cylindrical thin con-current streams, the influences of thickness of the streams upon the separation has been evaluated. (author)