Investigation the effect of M* and α0 on the separation of 4th and 8th isotopes of tellurium in a Q model cascade

Abstract

One of the crucial parameters in designing the Q model cascade for the multi-component systems is the M* parameter. In this research, a code called MOTACAS has been developed to design a Q cascade, using the optimal value of the M* parameter. In this regard, the enrichment of the 8th isotope of tellurium at the heavy stream to 0.40, 0.7, 0.9, and 0.99, and the enrichment of the 4th isotope to 0.1, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 have been investigated. Also, in order to evaluate the effect of the separation factor on M*, optimal Q cascades for the enrichment of the 8th and the 4th isotopes with separation factors of 1.05 and 1.1 have been designed and compared with each other. The results show that the acceptable range of the M* decreases with increasing the desired isotope concentration. The optimal value of the M* does not change with reducing the separation factor. The relative inter-stage flow rate remains constant despite increasing the total inter-stage flow rate. Moreover, the required number of separation stages to reach the end component to a high concentration increased, but the enrichment of the middle component in the one cascade is limited despite increasing the stages.

Keywords

• stable isotopes
• q cascade
• m* parameter
• total inter-stage flow rate
• tellurium