METHOD FOR SEPARATING ZIRCONIUM ISOTOPES Russian patent published in 2023 - IPC B01D59/20 C01G25/00 

FIELD: chemical industry.

SUBSTANCE: method for isotope separation and a process for obtaining enriched zirconium isotopes by a gas centrifugal method. The zirconium isotopes separation effect is determined by the difference in the mass numbers of zirconium isotopes, and the gas centrifugal method is used to separate zirconium isotopes, zirconium tetrahydroborate Zr(BH4)4 is used as a volatile chemical compound of zirconium supplied to the gas centrifugal cascade, while with the help of control devices, the pressure of zirconium tetrahydroborate in the communications of the cascade is maintained no higher than 10 mm Hg, by regulating the pressure in the specified range, the operation parameters of gas centrifuges are adjusted; passivation treatment of the internal surfaces of gas centrifuges and pipelines of the cascade is carried out by briefly filling them with zirconium tetrahydroborate, holding for a certain time, then downloading zirconium tetrahydroborate and the resulting highly volatile compounds - diborane and hydrogen from the cascade; the filling of the cascade (or group of stages) is carried out by supplying zirconium tetrahydroborate to the first stage of the cascade (or group of stages), from which it enters the next stage in the direction of the selection of the light fraction of the cascade, while the supplied zirconium tetrahydroborate and the resulting highly volatile compounds - diborane and hydrogen - pass through the stages of the cascade (or group of stages) and are removed in the light fraction flow of the last stage of the cascade (or group of stages); the process of separating a mixture of gases - zirconium tetrahydroborate, diborane, hydrogen - from the light fraction flow of the cascade and returning the purified zirconium tetrahydroborate to the cascade is carried out.

EFFECT: expanding the process capabilities of the gas centrifugal method, which ensures the production of enriched zirconium isotopes on an industrial scale (several kilograms per year or more) with high chemical purity.

2 cl, 3 dwg, 3 tbl, 3 ex