Recovery of deuterium from water–isotopes mixture in concentric-tube thermal diffusion columns inserted with wire spiral for improved performance

Abstract

The optimal wire angles of inclination for maximum recovery, maximum production rate and minimum column height in a continuous-type concentric-tube thermal diffusion column inserted with a wire spiral for the improvement in recovery of deuterium (D) from water–isotopes mixture (H 2O–HDO–D 2O), have been determined. Considerable improvement in performance is obtainable if the wired column is operated at the optimal wire angle of inclination, instead of operating without wire spiral, so that the convection strength can be properly reduced and controlled, resulting in suppressing the undesirable remixing effect while still preserving the desirable cascading effect.