SCALING-UP C-13 SEPARATION BY INFRARED MULTIPHOTON DISSOCIATION OF THE CHCLF2 BR-2 SYSTEM/

C-13 Separation at a laboratory scaled-up level by the C-13-selective InfraRed MultiPhoton Dissociation (IRMPD) of CHClF, in the presence of Br-2 has been investigated in a flow reactor. With a complete scaled- up system including a how reactor, an industrially reliable TEA CO2 la ser with longer pulse duration and a product-separation set-up for C-1 3 separation, it has been attempted to optimize the parameters suitabl e for large-scale production of the carbon isotope. The optimization o f C-13 Separation parameters, such as laser fluence, laser frequency a nd the partial pressure of CHClF2 and Br-2 was tested under static con ditions. By irradiation with longer pulses, a lower optimum pressure f or a high C-13-production rate was determined. Furthermore, the separa tion process was scaled in the flow system to examine the C-13-product ion rates, C-13 atomic fractions in the CBr2F2 products and C-13 deple tions in the CHClF2 reactants at different flow rates and laser repeti tion frequencies. The data obtained from the flow tests demonstrated a 40 mg/h production rate for CBr2F2 at 65% C-13 by using a 40 W (4 J, 10 Hz) laser beam focused with a lens of 120 cm focal length. If the r eliable TEA CO2 laser is operated with 100 W (10 J, 10 Hz) output, the production rate of CBr2F2 for C-13 at 60% of 200 mg/h can be attained . The measurements of the spatial profile of the focused laser beam im ply a 2 g/h production rate for the 60% C-13 product for an incident p ower of 200 W (20 J, 10 Hz).