Evaluation of the separation parameters for a long-bowl gas centrifuge

Abstract

This study investigates the separative capacity, overall separation factor and cut for selected rotor wall speeds as functions of the feed flow and circulation rates for a given gas centrifuge. It is observed that for a given feed flow rate there is a lower limit for the circulation flow rate for which a unique solution can be obtained for the separation parameters. For a selected rotor wall speed it is found that the maximum separative capacity obtainable as a function of the feed flow rate increases until reaching a limiting value. This is attributed to the fact that the overall separation factor decreases as a function of the feed flow rate for a given rotor wall speed.