Theory of recovery of deuterium from water–isotopes mixture in spiral wired thermal diffusion columns of the Frazier scheme

A separation theory for the recovery of deuterium from water–isotopes mixture in the Frazier scheme of concentric-tube thermal diffusion columns with a tight fitting wire spiral, having a diameter equal to the annular spacing, wrapped on the entire inner tube, has been developed. Equations of the optimal wire angle of inclination for maximum separation, maximum production rate and minimum column height have been derived. Considerable improvement in performance is obtainable if the wire spiral is employed in the column at the optimum inclined wire-angle, instead of the absence of wire spiral, so that the convection strength can be properly reduced and controlled, resulting in suppression of the undesirable remixing effect while still preserving the desirable cascading effect.