Basic characteristics of centrifuges, (4)

A method of numerically solving the convection-diffusion equation is presented for a binary isotopic gas mixture in the axisymmetric velocity field. A modified Newton's method is employed to perform the numerical integration without the assumptions that the pressure can be estimated from the rigid rotation model and the temperature of gas is uniform. A suitable form of the finite difference equation gives a computationally stable integration with reasonable representation of the molar concentration distribution of isotopic molecules in a rotating cylinder. The method includes a Gaussian elimination procedure which consists of the transformation of the Jacobian matrix to a triangular matrix followed by the backward elimination. Computations are made on UF6 gas in various centrifuges which have the openings for feed, product and waste on the end plates. Discussions are also presented on gas flows and separative efficiencies for the centrifuges which have baffle plates, skirting plates and bellows. (auth.)