Solution of the Diffusion Equations in a Gas Centrifuge for Separation of Multi component Mixtures

Abstract

Abstract The demand for stable isotopes in physical and chemical research and in medical diagnostics is growing, and the gas centrifuge process is able to provide large quantities of stable isotopes. A set of diffusion equations describing separation in a gas centrifuge for a multi component mixture is established. These equations involve general diffusion coefficients. Using the radial averaging method and the simplified diffusion transport vector for a multi component isotopic mixture, nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. An iteration method for the solution is presented. The relationship between the separation factor and the mass difference, γ ij = γ Mj o −Mi , is shown to be in agreement with both the computational and the experimental results with very high precision.