Method and apparatus for the separation of isotopes
AssigneeJersey Nuclear-Avco Isotopes, Inc.
InventorsRichard H. Levy, George Sargent Janes
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Abstract
In a system for isotope enrichment, method and apparatus for separating particles of one isotope type from an environment containing particles of plural isotope types by ionizing the particles of said one isotope type and imparting to the electrons released from the ionized particles an energy substantially in excess of the thermal or background energy of the environment whereby these super energetic electrons expand away from the environment in the company of the corresponding ionized particles or trajectories substantially different from those of the remaining particles in the environment to permit separate collection of the particles of the one isotope type.
Claims41
In a technique for isotope separation, a process for generating a super energetic plasma of ionized particles of one isotope type and corresponding electrons in an environment of plural isotope types having a predetermined path of flow, said process including the steps of:
- applying radiant energy to said environment of plural isotopes including said one isotope type;
- the energy of said applied radiant energy corresponding to a selected transition for said particles of said one isotope type to produce excitation thereof to an intermediate excited level below the level of ionization without correspondingly producing excitation of other particles in said environment;
- and
- generating a plasma having ionized particles of said one isotope type and electrons released therefrom, the released electrons having a kinetic energy substantially in excess of the background energy of said environment to provide expansion of said electrons and resulting expansion of the ionized particles of said one isotope type in said environment onto trajectories distinct from the path of flow of the particles in said environment.
In a technique for isotope enrichment, the process of separating particles of one isotope type in an environment containing a vapor flow of a material having plural isotope types with the flow velocity having a predetermined direction, said process including the steps of:
- selectively exciting the particles of said one isotope type in said environment without correspondingly exciting the other particles of said plural isotopes in said environment;
- imparting energy to the electrons of the excited particles of said one isotope type to substantially remove at least one electron from each particle of said one isotope type and impart to said removed electron a predetermined kinetic energy of motion substantially in excess of the background energy of said environment by an amount to cause said electrons to expand in generally all directions away from said environment with sufficient energy to change the trajectories of said ionized particles of said one isotope type from said predetermined direction;
- and
- collecting said ionized particles of said one isotope from their changed trajectory path without correspondingly collecting the other particles of said plural isotopes of said environment.
A method for separating particles of one isotope type from an environment containing particles of plural isotope types flowing on a predetermined flow path, said method including the steps of:
- selectively exciting particles of said one isotope type without correspondingly exciting particles of the other of said plural isotope types;
- and
- generating a plasma by raising the energy of said excited particles by an amount substantially in excess of the amount necessary to cause ionization thereof to provide the corresponding released electrons with a super energized kinetic energy of motion substantially above the background energy of said environment with which they expand in generally all directions;
- the super energized electron expansion creating a space charge separation with the ions resulting in the ions being changed in flow direction from the predetermined flow path to permit their collection apart from the other components of said environment.
Apparatus for separating particles of one isotope type from a flowing environment containing particles of plural isotope types on predetermined paths of flow, said apparatus comprising:
- means for selectively exciting particles of said one isotope type without corresponding excitation of the particles of the other isotope type;
- means for generating a plasma in said environment wherein the excited particles of said one isotope type are ionized and including means for generating a super energized state in released electrons imparting thereto a kinetic energy of motion substantially above the background energy of said environment whereby the electrons expand in said environment onto paths distinct from said predetermined paths with the result that said ions are changed in trajectory from their predetermined paths of flow;
- means for collecting said ionized particles of said one isotope type by intercepting their changed trajectory without correspondingly collecting other particles of said plural isotopes of said environment.
A process for isotope separation comprising the steps of:
- generating a flowing environment of particles of plural isotope types of a material;
- the flowing environment of said particles having predetermined flow paths with a generally uniform local direction thereto;
- applying electromagnetic energy to the environment of particles of plural isotope types to selectively impart an amount of energy to particles of a selected isotope type which produces isotopically selective ionization of selected isotope type particles of said environment, the total energy imparted exceeding the ionization potential for the selected particles in said environment by an amount which results in the ionization of said selected particles and release of super energetic electrons therefrom having kinetic energies of motion greater than the background energy of particles in said vapor flow and with directions of motion distinct from the direction of said flow paths;
- the released super energetic electrons causing the ionized particles of said environment to depart from the predetermined flow path onto distinct trajectories;
- and
- collecting ionized particles on the distinct trajectories apart from the other flowing particles of said environment.
A process for isotope separation comprising the steps of:
- generating a flowing environment of particles of plural isotope types of a material;
- the flowing environment of said particles having predetermined flow paths with a generally uniform local direction thereto;
- applying electromagnetic energy to the environment of particles of plural isotope types to selectively ionize particles of a selected isotope type in said environment with the release of electrons from the selected isotope type particles;
- super energizing the electrons in said environment to produce an electron expansion in generally all directions which results in space charge separation forces on the ions of the selected isotope type particles urging them onto trajectories distinct from the predetermined flow paths;
- and
- collecting the ionized particles on the distinct trajectories apart from the other particles of said environment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.