Gaseous diffusion stage separative capacity

Sepa.ra.tive Capacity. An expression for the separative capacity of a single gaseous diffusion stage where the upflow rate is C mols per unit time, given ia equation 7, can be written as... 

How does the separative capacity of a cross-flow gaseous diffusion stage vary with the cut At what cut is the separative capacity highest What is the ratio of separative capacity at a cut of I to the maximum separative capacity ... 

If the power requirement of the gaseous diffusion process were no greater than the power required to recompress the stage upflow from the pressure on the low-pressure side of the barrier to that on the high-pressure side, then the power requirement of the stage would be Z RTLq (1 /r) for the case where the compression is performed isotherm ally. The power requirement per unit of separative capacity would then be given simply by the ratio... 

A cascade tiiat has the same number of units (i.e., the same capacity) in all stages of a group is known as a squared-off cascade. A cascade in which the number of units, or the capacity, in each stage decreases as the produce and waste ends of the cascade are approached is called a tapered cascade. A single multiplate distillation column is an example of a squared-off cascade a gaseous diffusion plant for uranium separation is an example of a tapered cascade. 

The importance of the separative capacity in isotope separation lies in the fact that it is a good measure of the magnitude of an isotope separation job. Many of the characteristics of the plant that make important contributions to its cost are proportional to the separative capacity. For example, in a gaseous diffusion plant built as an ideal cascade of stages operated at the same conditions, the total flow rate, the total ptimp capacity, the total power demand, and the total barrier area are all proportional to the separative capacity. In a distillation plant, the total column volume and total rate of loss of availability are proportional to the separative capacity. 

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