Apparatus for the Thermal Diffusion Separation of Stable Gaseous Isotopes

Abstract

An efficient and easily fabricated thermal diffusion column design was developed for the thermal diffusion separation of stable isotopes. The design is based on the use of commercial tubular electric heaters for the hot wall. As many as 18 of these columns can be placed in a common cooling water jacket. Tests of a prototype column with argon, methane, and xenon gave results in reasonably good agreement with theory. Application of the column design and associated equipment and techniques was demonstrated by the successful operation of a 24‐column 6‐stage cascade for enriching 124Xe.