Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Nuclear Fuel Cycle Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, P.O.Box:11365-8486, Tehran-Iran
2 Department of Energy Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, P.O.Box: 14565-1114, Tehran-Iran
3 Advanced Technology Company of Iran, AEOI, P.O.Box: 14399-55431, Tehran-Iran
Abstract
In order to increase the performance of a gas centrifuge used in the uranium enrichment industry, the gas flow field inside it is studied and simulated. In the present work, the full Navier-Stokes equations using the CFD method are used to simulate the gas flow inside the rotor. For the CFD method, a density-based implicit coupling solver was developed in OpenFOAM software, which was used to simulate the gas flow inside the rotor. The separation power was improved in a sample rotor by adjusting feed flow parameters, wall pressure, wall temperature gradient, and scoop drag force. The results show that the process variable had an optimal value in which the separation power is maximum. In order to achieve the maximum separation power of 12.87 kg UF6 SWU/year, the optimum rotor conditions were determined at a feed rate of 90 g/h, wall pressure of 44 torr, the temperature gradient of 25 K, and drag force of 1557 dyne. This study can be considered an important step in improving the performance of centrifuge separation.
Keywords
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