Isotope Separation by Multiple Contact, (I)

Analytical Procedure for Reverse Frontal Process

Abstract

An analytical procedure for the reverse frontal process has been developed for the case in which a finite amount of one chemical substance is equilibrated isotopically step by step with the same amount of another substance, and the isotopic equilibrium separation factor remains constant throughout the exchange. The isotope effect between two phases was strictly taken into consideration in the mathematical development.
The conclusions obtained are as follows:
(1) Equations for the isotope abundance ratios of materials at the relaxing position and at the closing part of the effluent curve were obtained in simple form.
(2) An approximate estimate for the number of units and for the separation factor were obtained by drawing the effluent curve from experiment.
(3) A completely separated sample could not be obtained so long as the number of units was finite.