METHOD FOR OBTAINING HIGHLY CONCENTRATED O-18 OXYGEN ISOTOPE Russian patent published in 2024 - IPC B01D59/50 B01D59/04 B01D59/30 C01B5/00 B01D3/14 

FIELD: isotope separation.

SUBSTANCE: method for separating isotopes by rectification and chemical isotope exchange. A method has been proposed for obtaining a highly concentrated ¹⁸O oxygen isotope by distillation of water under vacuum with concentration of ¹⁸O isotope from its natural content to a high concentration of at least 95 at.%. in several stages. At one of the stages, water with intermediate ¹⁸O enrichment is removed in the form of selection of the first or the second kind. Water flow is subjected to isotope exchange with hydrogen in a counter-current mass transfer column with a platinum hydrophobic catalyst at the water distillation temperature. After this, the flow is sent to the next stage of rectification into a cascade of columns with ¹⁸O concentration and exhausting parts if the first type is selected or to a separate stage of the concentrating cascade if the second type is selected at the previous stage of rectification.

EFFECT: reduced consumption of the working gas used for chemical isotope exchange, reduced volume of separation equipment, and increased specific production of ¹⁸O in the form of water.

3 cl, 3 dwg, 2 tbl, 2 ex