THE METHOD OF THE NITROGEN ISOTOPE 15N PRODUCTION (PREPRINT IBRAE-2015-04)

Preprint IBRAE-2015-04

Lizunov A.V., Solodov A.A. 

The method of the nitrogen isotope N¹⁵ production is exposed, which is based on distillation of the liquid dinitrogen tetroxide. The method makes use of the early proposed multichannel isotope exchange column, which is made upon the cascade scheme with the stage including short multichannel column and a gas mixer element. The mathematic model of the channel, stage and column as a whole is described. The criteria of the column optimization is formulated. Essentials of practical items are discussed, such as: the needed and achieved precision of liquid and vapor distribution in the column channels, the list of candidate construction materials and the cost of N¹⁵ isotope produced. To minimize the cost of isotope the heat fluxes in  condenser/boiler  of the column are generated by use  of  vapor absorption chiller, by preference the lithium–bromide absorption chiller. In the case of available free waste heat to drive the chiller and production scale  ~ 600 kG of N¹⁵ per year, the cost of isotope is as low as ~ 10–15  doll/g–at of N¹⁵.

Bibliographical reference

Lizunov A.V., Solodov A.A. THE METHOD OF THE NITROGEN ISOTOPE ¹⁵N PRODUCTION. – Preprint № IBRAE-2015-04. Moscow: Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBRAE RAN), 2015. – 35 p. – Refs.: 24 items