Dependence of the separative power of an optimised Iguassu gas centrifuge on the velocity of rotor

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this work is to determine dependence of the separative power of the Iguassu gas centrifuge (GC) on the velocity of the rotor. Design/methodology/approach - The dependence is determined by means of computer simulation of the gas flow in the GC and numerical solution of the diffusion equation for the light component of the binary mixture of uranium isotopes. 2D axisymmetric model with the sources/sinks of the mass, angular momentum and energy reproducing the scoops was explored for the computer simulation. Parameters of the model correspond to the parameters of the so-called Iguassu centrifuge. The separative power has been optimised in relation to the pressure of the gas, temperature of the gas, the temperature drop along the rotor, power of the source of angularmomentum and energy, feed flow and geometry of the lower baffle. Findings - In the result, the optimised separative power depends only on the velocity, length and diameter of the rotor. The dependence on the velocity is described by the power law function with the power law index 2.6 which demonstrate stronger dependence on the velocity than it follows from experimental data. However, the separative power obtained with limitation on the pressure growth with the velocity depends on the velocity on the power similar to 2 which well agree with the experiments. Originality/value - For the first time, the optimised separative power of the GCs have been calculated via numerical simulation of the gas flow and diffusion of the binary mixture of isotope.