Development of advanced concepts for improved heavy water production technology. Quarterly progress report, July 1--September 30, 1978
Three significantly different advanced heavy water production processes continued under active investigation during the reporting period. For the process based on infrared multiple-photon dissociation both the yield and the single-step deuterium enrichment factor were measured as a function of peak energy fluence for IR dissociation of Freon 123. The single-step deuterium enrichment factor was found to increase as a very steep function of decreasing peak dissociating-pulse energy fluence, attaining a value of 1400 at 10 joules/cm/sup 2/. Similarly, the deuterium-bearing product yield increases rapidly with energy fluence, attaining the value 0.4 at 10 joules/cm/sup 2/; saturation occurs at about 1.0 (100% yield) above 15 joules/cm/sup 2/. These results demonstrate that high single-step deuterium enrichment and high yield can be obtained simultaneously in a heavy water production process utilizing Freon 123. No room temperature laser-induced reaction has been observed in the process based on vibrationally enhanced deuterium halide addition into olefins. For the process based on intermetallic hydride chromatography, an order-of-magnitude increase in column size and optimum hydrogen flow rate was achieved while maintaining the same single-pass deuterium enrichment factor. A several-hundred-milligram sample of 3-fold enriched heavy water was prepared.
- Research Organization:
- California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6767867
- Report Number(s):
- UCID-17736-78-3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Development of advanced concepts for improved heavy water production technology. [IR-laser dissociation of Freon-123; hydride chromatography]
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