Separation of isotopes by ionization
AssigneeBritish Nuclear Fuel plc
InventorsGeoffrey Horrocks Bailey, Colin Whitehead, Paul Gilchrist, Duncan Alfred Webster
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Improved processing apparatus and methods are provided which involve the selective ionisation of a feed material and the separation of ionised and non-ionised species. Introduction of a chemical material to cause selective transition to a non-ionised and/or solid or liquid state of part of the feed is provided. The process offers high through puts by virtue of the ionised and non-ionised species being in equilibrium with one another.
Claims33
A process for separating desired components in a feed mixture comprising the steps of:
- providing a feed, the feed including a plurality of mixed components, each component having a corresponding first thermal energy;
- applying energy to the entire feed such that each of the mixed components has a corresponding second thermal energy that is greater than the corresponding first thermal energy, the second thermal energy being sufficiently high to convert said feed into a plasma or ionized form;
- the conversion of said feed into a plasma or ionized form providing at least one component of the mixed components in at least partially ionized form and at least one different component of the mixed components in at least partially non-ionized form, the second thermal energy of the component in the ionized form being substantially same as the second thermal energy of the component in the non-ionized form;
- containing said plasma/ions in a magnetic field;
- and
- separating said ionized components from said non-ionized components when the ionized and non-ionized feed components are in substantially thermal equilibrium with one another for prevailing conditions.
A process for separating desired chemical species in a feed mixture:
- heating an entire feed of mixed chemical species to a predetermined temperature such that each of the chemical substantially the same thermal energy, the feed including a first chemical species and a second chemical species, the predetermined temperature being sufficient to convert the read into a plasma or ionized form such that the first chemical species is substantially ionized and the second chemical species is substantially non-ionized;
- containing the plasma/ions in a magnetic field;
- and
- substantially separating the non-ionized second chemical specks from the ionized first chemical species contained in the magnetic field.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.