A new type of seeded continuous plasma centrifuge

Abstract

This paper investigates the possibility of optimizing the performance of plasma centrifuges by an appropriate choice of operating gas mixture. Plasma centrifuges with partial ionization are known to be adversely affected by plasma nonuniformities. Using the concept of a fully ionized seed may overcome the ionization instability problem. Theoretical calculations show that at a temperature as low as 3800 K, with a 0.01% mole fraction of caesium seeding in a hydrogen plasma centrifuge, the figure of merit for separation A can reach about 20, which means the separative power should be improved by approximately a factor of 2500 compared with a conventional mechanical centrifuge.