Improvement in recovery of deuterium from water-isotope mixture in concentric-tube thermal diffusion columns

Application of thermonuclear fusion with deuterium for power generation may become a reality in the distant future. The recovery performances of deuterium from water-isotope mixture in various concentric-tube thermal diffusion columns, such as open, wired and rotated wired devices, have been compared with different flow-rate range operations. It was found that the operation in a concentric-tube column with a wire spiral inserted in the annular spacing and with tubes rotated in opposite directions, will reduce the remixing effect and enhance the cascading effect, respectively, resulting in improved performance.