Thermally driven countercurrent plasma centrifuge

ABSTRACT

Renewed interest in plasma isotope separation stems from the need to produce certain isotopes more inexpensively. These include isotopes of groups I and II, rare earth and some other elements of the periodic table. While gas centrifuge cascades, developed for uranium enrichment, are capable of a wider range of separation applications, they are limited to elements that can form volatile gaseous compounds at room temperature. In the absence of a suitable compound, more expensive separation techniques are used, consuming considerable electrical power for relatively low throughputs. We believe that a new type of plasma centrifuge can be a viable alternative.

KEYWORDS:

• Plasma centrifuge
• isotope separation
• axial circulation

Notes

^a There is an increasing need globally for certain types of isotopes to support science research, such as neutrinoless double beta decay experiments, solar neutrino detection and studies about dark matter in the universe

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by the Russian Science Foundation (contract No 18-19-00447).