Estimation of deuterium recovery from the separation of water isotopes in thermal-diffusion columns of a countercurrent-flow frazier scheme with optimal plate aspect ratio

The effect of plate aspect ratio on the performance of deuterium recovery from the separation of water–isotope mixture in thermal-diffusion columns of a countercurrent-flow Frazier scheme was investigated. The equations for the optimal plate aspect ratios and the corresponding maximum recovery and maximum production rate were derived. Considerable improvement in performance is obtained when thermal-diffusion columns are operated at the optimal plate aspect ratio. Further improvement can be achieved if the scheme is connected and operated in countercurrent flow, instead of concurrent flow.