Evaluation of the Berman-Olander long-bowl gas centrifuge solution

Abstract

The hydrodynamic equations for a long-bowl gas centrifuge can be simplified to obtain a one-dimensional differential equation for the variation of the non-dimensional axial velocity in the radial direction. In this study the solution of the one-dimensional differential equation was revisited and an approximate finite element solution of the differential equation was developed. The primary analytical solution was found to be consistent with the finite element solution, but the associated simplified solutions were found not always to be consistent with the finite element solution. Improved values for the originally published centrifuge flow function parameters are also presented