Radiant energy – Ionic separation or analysis
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-18
2001-06-26
Nguyen, Kiet T. (Department: 2881)
Radiant energy
Ionic separation or analysis
C250S296000, C250S298000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06252224
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains generally to systems for the remediation and disposal of radioactive nuclear waste. More particularly, the present invention pertains to nuclear waste remediation systems that create centrifugal forces which act on the charged particles of a multi-species plasma to separate, segregate and isolate radionuclides from non-radioactive elements in the plasma. The present invention is particularly, but not necessarily, useful as an apparatus and a system for accelerating all particles in a multi-species plasma to a common translational velocity, injecting the particles into a separator where the particles have a common rotational velocity and the separation is centrifugally accomplished along the magnetic field according to the respective masses of the particles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is apparent that in recent years there has been an increased public awareness of the problems associated with the disposal of radioactive nuclear waste. Accordingly, significant measures have been taken to isolate and confine nuclear waste so that there is minimal harm to the public and to the environment. Much of this activity has resulted from the fact that the adverse effects of radioactivity are well known and well documented. It is also a fact, however, that many of the measures which have been taken heretofore for the disposal of nuclear waste have been, or are now, ineffective for their intended purpose.
It has been suggested that a solution to the nuclear waste problem is to separate the radionuclides from the non-radioactive particles in the waste. The object here has been to reduce the amount of material that requires special handling, and thereby simplify the disposal process. To dispose of nuclear waste in this manner, however, it is first necessary to vaporize the waste to create a multi-species plasma. Such a plasma will include charged particles of relatively high mass (the radionuclides are in this group), and charged particles of relatively low mass (the non-radioactive elements). As a practical matter, after the nuclear waste has been vaporized, the problem becomes one of effectively separating the higher-mass particles from the lower-mass particles in the plasma.
Plasma centrifuges, which operate in accordance with well known physical principles, have been shown to be capable of creating a distribution in which plasma particles are generally distributed according to their mass. In accordance with centrifuge techniques, charged particles will pass through the centrifuge under the influence of crossed electric and magnetic fields. They are then collected as they exit the centrifuge. As they transit the centrifuge, however, centrifugal forces cause the particles to cross the magnetic field lines which are established in the centrifuge by the magnetic field. Thus, the magnetic field lines resist movement of the charged particles. In turn, the separation of particles in a centrifuge is affected by this resistance. On the other hand, charged particles can move along, rather than across, magnetic field lines, with much less resistance.
It is known that for a charged particle of mass, m, traveling on a curved path having a radius of curvature, r, the centrifugal force F
c
acting on the particle can be expressed as:
F
c
=mr&ohgr;
2
where &ohgr; is the angular speed or frequency of rotation of the particle on the path. Further, it is known that a centrifugal force will act on a charged particle to urge the particle toward the outside of the curve on which the particle is traveling. Accordingly, and in light of the above discussion regarding magnetic field lines, if magnetic field lines can be oriented so that a centrifugal force will act generally in the same direction as the magnetic field lines, the particles can move freely along the magnetic field to adjust to the effect of the centrifugal force. Consequently, the centrifugal force can be made more effective for separating particles according to their respective masses.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a nuclear waste remediation system which effectively separates, segregates and isolates particles of a multi-species plasma according to the respective masses of the particles. Another object of the present invention is to provide a nuclear waste remediation system which is capable of accelerating all particles in a multi-species plasma to a common translational velocity in the straight section and a common rotational velocity in the curved separation section so that the various particles in the plasma can be separated from each other according to only the respective masses of the particles. A key element of the present invention is to provide a nuclear waste separation system which eliminates the opposing influence of the magnetic field to the separating influence of the centrifugal force on charged particles. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a nuclear waste remediation system which is simple to use, is relatively easy to manufacture, and is comparatively cost effective.
SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An in-line nuclear waste remediation system includes, in order: 1) an ionizer for transforming nuclear waste into a multi-species plasma; 2) an accelerator for accelerating ions in the multi-species plasma to a common velocity; 3) an optional cooler for uniformly reducing the temperature of all ions in the multi-species plasma; 4) a separator for dispersing ions in the multi-species plasma according to their respective masses; and 5) a plurality of either magnetic or mechanical skimmers for removing ions from the plasma to segregate the ions according to their mass. A common element of all sections of the remediation system are two conductors which traverse the entire length of the system. Importantly, each conductor carries substantially the same current to produce a magnetic field throughout the system which is oriented substantially perpendicular to the direction in which charged particles transit the system. Additionally, casings surround the current carrying conductors. The casings, unlike the conductors which traverse the entire system, are divided so that the casings surrounding the conductors in the ionizer are electrically insulated from the casings which surround the conductors in the remainder of the system.
The purpose of the ionizer section of the present invention is to produce a plasma that vaporizes and ionizes the nuclear waste. A preferred embodiment of the ionizer includes a pair of parallel, co-planar spaced-apart conductors which are each surrounded by a casing. Opposite polarity, time varying voltages are applied to the respective casings and time varying fields induce current flow along the magnetic field lines which link both conductors. As is well known, electrons flowing along common magnetic field lines will ionize a neutral gas. In turn, the resulting plasma will vaporize and ionize the nuclear waste that was earlier placed in the ionizer. As the nuclear waste is vaporized by the plasma, the multi-species plasma is created. The multispecies plasma then drifts from the ionizer into the accelerator.
As implied above, the accelerator includes continuous extension of the conductors from the ionizer. Thus the magnetic field in the accelerator is the same as the magnetic field in the ionizer. The casings which surround the conductors of the accelerator are, however, insulated from the casings which surround the conductors of the ionizer. This is done so that the accelerator can accelerate ions of the multi-species to the same translational velocity. Specifically, in order to accelerate the ions, a dc voltage is applied to the casings of both conductors relative to the vacuum chamber. This induces a drift for all plasma species in a direction that is perpendicular to both the electric and magnetic fields. Importantly, the potential must be constant on each magnetic flux surface which ensures that the ratio of the electric field (E) to the magnetic field (B) will be uniform throu
Archimedes Technology Group, Inc.
Nguyen Kiet T.
Nydegger & Associates
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