Gas Centrifuge

Gas Centrifuge

Gas centrifuges are high speed devices that produce rotational forces as much as twenty thousand times that of normal gravity allowing even closely associated isotopes to be clearly and finitely separated. While other applications abound, the most common use for gas centrifuges is uranium enrichment. This process divides uranium hexafluoride (UF6) into uranium-238 and uranium-235. Concentrated amounts of the latter are implemented in nuclear power plants as well as nuclear weaponry and armament. As compared to alternative processes such as gaseous diffusion and electromagnetic separation, gas centrifuges yield higher isotope concentrations and use significantly less energy. These ultracentrifuges are also commonly used to lower the level of zinc-64 in the metal resulting in depleted zinc oxide, a commonly used corrosion inhibitor. In both applications and all others, it is important that gas centrifuges be loaded and balanced correctly as failure to do so may throw off the equilibrium of the spin cycle causing mechanical failure with potentially catastrophic results especially when volatile gases are being processed.

While many applications require only batch operation, these industrial centrifuges are designed to operate continuously and often in conjunction with several other cascading centrifuges. In fact, thousands of gas centrifuges may be required to create military grade enriched uranium. There are six main features integral to all gas centrifuges: a cylindrical rotor, hollowed casing, motor (often electric), an intake line and two output lines. The casing, like the rotor, is cylindrical in shape and houses all other apparatus and materials. The rotor is housed inside the vacuum sealed container and spins at nearly the speed of sound when in operation. The absence of air is important as this allows for frictionless operation and eliminates one avenue for contamination. The input line may be found anywhere along the body of the casing while the output hoses are located one at each end. In operation, force is applied to the axis perpendicular to the central fixed axis of the rotor. This creates rotation which in turn generates centrifugal force. Denser or heavier molecules, such as the uranium-238 for example, are moved toward the outer wall by this force while lighter materials, uranium-235, remain centrally located. A thermal gradient keeps the top of the column cool and the bottom warm. This aids in moving lighter materials to the top of the column and heavier particles to the bottom where their respective output lines will carry them out to reservoirs or secondary centrifuges.