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Separation in a gas centrifuge at high feed flow rate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

Zhang Cunzhen  and
A. T. Conlisk
Zhang Cunzhen
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA Permanent address: Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PRC.
A. T. Conlisk
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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Abstract

The separation of a binary gas mixture for high feed flow rates such that the E¼ vertical shear layer is nonlinear is considered. Numerical solutions for the velocity field and the temperature within the centrifuge are computed using the method originally described by Bennetts & Hocking (1973). These solutions are inputs to the separation problem which is characterized by a concentration boundary layer also of width of O(E¼). Results are presented for a wide range of parameters and the effect of thermal drive strength is examined in detail. Surprisingly the numerical results indicate that the analytical solution for the separation factor given by Conlisk, Foster & Walker (1983) may be used far outside its strict asymptotic region of validity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 208 , November 1989 , pp. 355 - 373
Copyright
© 1989 Cambridge University Press

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