- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine
Access Provided by Xinjiang University

Reviews of Modern Physics

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Review of the gas centrifuge until 1962. Part I: Principles of separation physics

Stanley Whitley

Stanley Whitley

  • British Nuclear Fuels Limited, Capenhurst Works, Chester, England

PDF

Rev. Mod. Phys. 56, 41 – Published 1 January, 1984

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.56.41

Abstract

There are two sets of principles involved in the development of the gas centrifuge, the internal separation physics and the external means of spinning a rotor at very high speeds. Only the first aspect is discussed in this part of the review. First, the industrial requirement for the separation of the uranium isotopes is defined so that the separation history can be put in a modern perspective. The history of separation physics itself is then traced back to the theory of centrifugal force by Huygens and the equivalence of this force to that of gravity. The barometric equation giving the variation of atmospheric pressure with height and the law of partial pressures can then be adapted to the centrifuge to give the steady-state theory of separation. This work was completed in the last century but was not confirmed in its application to isotope separation until 1936. The detailed separation physics for non-steady-state conditions required for a production centrifuge was developed during the American wartime Manhattan Project. During this work the theory giving the maximum output of a centrifuge was developed by Dirac, and soon afterwards Cohen and Kaplan showed that the best method of operation for a production centrifuge is in a countercurrent mode of operation. This method gives a large separation factor at relatively small flow rates through the rotor. The theory of how to set up an internal countercurrent was given by Martin during an equivalent wartime German project, and refinements to the theory, showing how the countercurrent persists along a centrifuge rotor, was given by Dirac and Steenbeck, the latter during a postwar Russian project. This theory was extended by Parker, Ging, and Mayo of the University of Virginia, whose work was completed by 1962, the limit of this review.

View figure in article

References (55)

  1. Avery, D. G., and E. Davies, 1973, Uranium Enrichment by Gas Centrifuge (Mills & Boon Ltd., London)
  2. Beams, J. W., and F. B. Haynes, 1936, "The separation of isotopes by centrifuging," Phys. Rev. 50, 491
  3. Beams, J. W., 1938a, "High speed centrifuging," Rev. Mod. Phys. 10, 245
  4. Beams, J. W., 1938b, "Tubular vacuum type centrifuge," Rev. Sci. Instrum. 9, 413
  5. Beams, J. W., and C. Skarstrom, 1939, "Concentration of isotopes by evaporative centrifuge methods," Phys. Rev. 56, 266
  6. Berman, A. S., 1962, "A theory of isotope separation in a long counter-current gas centrifuge," Union Carbide Co. Report K 1536, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
  7. Boedewadt, U. T., 1940, "Die Drehstromung uber festem Grunde," Z. Angew. Math. Mech. 20, 241 H. Schlichting, Boundary Layer Theory (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1955), p. 176
  8. Bredig, G., 1895, "The effect of centrifugal force on chemical systems," Z. Phys. Chem. 17, 459, BNFL Capenhurst translation No. 238
  9. Cochran, W. G., 1934, "The flow due to a rotating disk," Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 30, 365
  10. Cohen, K., 1951, The Theory of Isotope Separation as Applied to the Large-Scale Production of U235 (McGraw-Hill, New York)
  11. Cohen, K., and I. Kaplan, 1942, "Absolute efficiencies of isotope separation by counter-current centrifuges: a new counter-current centrifuge," Report No. A-101, Columbia University, New York
  12. Crew, H., 1935, The Rise of Modern Physics (Balliere-Tindall, Cox, London)
  13. De Laval, G., 1883, in "De Laval Memorial Lecture 1957" (Swedish De Laval Steam Turbine Co., Stockholm, Sweden)
  14. Des Coudres, T., 1883, "Unpolarisirbare electrolytische Zellen unter dem Einflusse der Centrifugalkraft," Ann. Phys. Chem. 49, 284
  15. De Witt, R., 1960, "Uranium hexafluoride: a survey of the physio-chemical properties," Report GAT.280, Goodyear Atomic Corp., Ohio
  16. Dirac, P. A. M., 1940, "The motion in a self-fractionating centrifuge," BR 42, declassified 1946 as BDDA-7 (HMSO, London)
  17. Dirac, P. A. M., 1941, unpublished cited in K. Cohen, Theory of Isotope Separation as Applied to the Largescale Production of U235 (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1951)
  18. Einstein, A., 1905, "Über die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen," Ann. Phys. 17, 549
  19. Fuchs, K., and R. Peierls, 1941, "Separation of isotopes," British Report declassified 1947 as BDDA-97 (HMSO, London)
  20. Furry, W. H., R. C. Jones, and L. Onsager, 1939, "On the theory of isotope separation by thermal diffusion," Phys. Rev. 55, 1083
  21. Ging, J. L., 1962, "Countercurrent flow in a semi-infinite gas centrifuge: axially symmetric solution in the limit of high angular speed," Univesity of Virginia UVA-198-62S, AEC Report EP-4422-198-62S
  22. Halley, E. D. M., 1685, "A discourse of the rule of the decrease of the height of mercury in the barometer," Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London 16, 104
  23. Herzfeld, K. F., 1929, Kinetische Theorie der Warme (Vieweg, Braunschweig)
  24. Humphreys, R. F., 1939, "Separation of bromine isotopes by centrifugation," Phys. Rev. 56, 684
  25. Huygens, C., 1659, "De vi centrifuge," not published until 1703, in C. Hugenii...Opuscula Postuma (Leyden) translated 1929 in Oeuvres Completes de C. Huygens, published by Société Hollandaise de Sciences (Nijhoff, The Hague), Vol. 16, p. 237
  26. Huygens, C., 1673, Horologium Oscillatorium (Paris) reprinted in 1966 by "Culture et Civili Civilisation," Brussels, translated 1934 in Oeuvres Completes de C. Huygens, published by Société Hollandaise de Sciences (Nijhoff, The Hague), Vol. 18, p. 69
  27. Jeans, Sir James, 1916, The Dynamical Theory of Gases (Dover, New York)
  28. Kanagawa, A., and Y. Oyama, 1961, "On the isotope separation by counter-current gas centrifuge, Part I. (A) Influence of a gas flow pattern on the separative power." J. Atom. Energy Soc. Jpn. 3, No. 11, p. 868. AEC translation No. 5135
  29. Keill, J., 1702, Introductio ad Veram Physicam...accedunt C. Hugenii theoremata de vi centrifuge & motu circulam demonstrata (London) Keill, J.First English edition, An Introduction to Natural Philosophy or Philosophical Lectures read in the University of Oxford 1700 (J. Senex, London, 1720, 1726)
  30. Kennard, E. H., 1938, Kinetic Theory of Gases, with an introduction to Statistical Mechanics (McGraw-Hill, New York)
  31. Lindemann, F. A., and F. W. Aston, 1919, "The possibility of separating isotopes," Philos. Mag. 37, 523
  32. Los, J., and J. Kistemaker, 1958, "On the influence of temperature distribution inside a gas centrifuge," in Proceedings of the International Symposium on Isotope Separation, Amsterdam 1957, edited by J. Kistemaker, J. Bigeleison, and A. O. C. Neir (North-Holland, Amsterdam), p. 695
  33. Martin, H., 1950, "Convection processes in the gas centrifuge: convection in a strong gravitational field," Z. Elektrochem. 54, 120. AEC translation No. 3170
  34. Maxwell, J. C., 1860, "Illustrations of the dynamical theory of gases. Part I: On motions and collisions of perfectly elastic spheres," Philos. Mag. 19, 19 "Part II: On the process of diffusion of two or more kinds of moving particles among one another," 20, 21
  35. Nernst, W., 1888, "Zur kinetic der in Lösung befindlichen körper," Z. Phys. Chem. (Leipz.) 2, 613
  36. Newton, I., 1687, Philosophiae Naturales Principia Mathematica (Royal Society, London) English edition, Sir Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy and His System of the World, translated by Andrew Motte, edited by R. T. Crawford, and revised by Florian Cajori (University of California, Berkeley, 1934)
  37. Olander, D. R., 1972, "Technical basis of the gas centrifuge," Adv. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 6, 105
  38. Olander, D. R., 1978, "The gas centrifuge," Sci. Am. 239, No. 2, 37
  39. Parker, H. M., and T. T. Mayo, 1963, "Countercurrent flow in a semi-infinite gas centrifuge: preliminary results," University of Virginia Report No. EP. 4422-279-63U
  40. Prandtl, L., H. Schlichting1904, "Fluid motion with very small friction," in Proceedings of the 3rd International Mathematical Congress, Heidelberg Reprinted in , Boundary-Layer Theory (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1955)
  41. Roberts, J. K., 1928, Heat and Thermodynamics (Blackie & Son, London/Glasgow)
  42. Schlichting, H., 1951, Grenzschicht-Theorie (G. Braun, Karlsruhe) Schlichting, H.English edition, J. KestinBoundary-Layer Theory, translated by (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1955)
  43. Slater, J. C., 1939, Introduction to Chemical Physics (McGraw-Hill, New York)
  44. Soddy, F., 1913, "Intra-atomic charge," Nature 92, 399
  45. Steenbeck, M., 1958, "Production of a self-cascading axial flow in a long ultra-centrifuge for isotopic separation," Kernenergie 1, No. 11, 921 Steenbeck, M.UKAEA translation, DEG Information series 127(R)
  46. Taton, Rene, A. J. Pomerans1958, A General History of the Sciences, Vol. II: The Beginning of Modern Sciences 1450-1800, translated by (Thames & Hudson, London)
  47. Tritton, D. J., 1977, Physical Fluid Dynamics (Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., England)
  48. Tritton, D. J.Turnbull, H. W., 1957, Ed., The Correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton (Cambridge University, Cambridge/London)
  49. Von Halle, E., R. L. Hoglund, and J. Shacter, 1965, "Diffusion separation methods," in Encyclopdedia of Chemical Technology, edited by Kirk and Othmer (Wiley-Interscience, New York), Vol. 7, p. 91
  50. Waterton, J. J., 1845, "On the physics of media that are composed of free and perfectly elastic molecules in a state of motion," Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London 183
  51. Whipple, R. T. P., 1962, "Hydrodynamics of a cylindrical counter-current centrifuge," Report No. AERE-R-3906, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, Oxford, U.K
  52. Whitley, S., 1979a, "The gas centrifuge," in Project Magazine No. 14, Central Office of Information, HMSO, London
  53. Whitley, S., 1979b, "The urananium ultracentrifuge," Phys. Technol. 10, 26
  54. Wolley, C. L., 1930, "Excavations at Ur," Antiq. J. 10, 332 cited in A History of Technology, by C. Singer, E. J. Holmyard, and A. R. Hall (Oxford University, Oxford, 1958), Vol. 1
  55. Zippe, G., 1960, "The development of short bowl centrifuges," U. S. Atomic Energy Commission Report ORO-315, University of Virginia EP-4420-101-60U

Outline

Information

Rev. Mod. Phys. 56, 41– Published 1 January, 1984

    © 1984 American Physical Society

    Sign In to Your Journals Account

    Filter

    Filter

    Article Lookup

    Enter a citation