JP2000084367A - Product and waste material carrying out device for isotope separation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To continuously carry out a product and waste material from an isotope separating device without cancelling vacuum in a vacuum vessel. SOLUTION: A differential exhaust system 20 is communicated with the bottom of a vacuum vessel (a) through a gate valve 10. In the differential exhaust system 20, plural sub-vacuum chambers 21 vertically forming a line, are communicated with each other and evacuated so that the lower the position of the sub-vacuum chamber 21 is, the more the degree of vacuum approaches atmospheric pressure. The product and waste material are introduced by a ribbed shooter part 40 and a water cooling shooter 41 to fall down and goes into the differential exhaust system 20 through the gate valve 10. The product and waste material move downward step by step through the sub-vacuum chambers 21 in the differential exhaust system 20 and falls down into a recovering vessel 50 from the lower end of the differential exhaust system 20. Even when the product and waste material move downward in the differential exhaust system 20, the degree of vacuum in each sub-vacuum chamber 21 is secured and the degree of vacuum in the vacuum vessel (a) is not lowered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product / waste carry-out device for an isotope separation device. It is devised so that it can be continuously taken out of the vacuum vessel system while maintaining the degree of vacuum.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional product / waste carry-out device of an isotope separation apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 2 which is a plan view and FIG. 3 which is a side view. As shown in both figures, the crucible driving table 1 moves the product / waste crucible i in the front-back direction (A direction).
The crucible drive base 1 is connected to a rotation introduction terminal 3 outside the vacuum vessel wall a-1 via a universal joint 2 with a shaft. Therefore, the operation of the rotation introduction terminal 3 causes
By driving the crucible driving table 1, the product / waste crucible i can be moved in the front-back direction.

[0003] Products and wastes are stored in the product / waste crucible i through the collecting groove 4. The conventional product / waste product recovery apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 performs sampling of the separated product and waste after the system reaches a steady state for the purpose of evaluating the function of the isotope separation apparatus. .

[0004] That is, the required amount of the product and waste collected by the product recovery section and the waste recovery section is flown into the product / waste crucible i through the recovery groove 4. Then, at a stage where the required amount of the product and the waste are collected, or at a stage when the allowable amount of the product / the waste crucible i is reached, the sampling is finished and the flow of the product and the waste into the collecting groove 4 is stopped. The product and waste crucible i containing the product and waste sampled in this manner are pulled out and collected when the vacuum is released.

[0005]

The conventional product / waste carry-out device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is small in size in accordance with the plan and design of the isotope separation device, and takes out products and waste. The amount is very small, and removal is performed discontinuously only when the vacuum vessel is opened.

[0006] By the way, recently, as the size of the steam enclosing device and the recovery mechanism has been increased, the amount of recovered products and waste products has increased. could not.

In recent years, since continuous operation has been performed for a long time, products and waste products cannot be taken out of the vacuum container system during continuous operation for a long time in the conventional product / waste carry-out device. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and has as its object to provide an isotope separation device product / waste product discharge device capable of continuously carrying a large amount of products and waste products out of a vacuum vessel system. And

[0009]

According to the structure of the present invention which solves the above-mentioned problems, isotopes are selected by irradiating a metal vapor stream generated by heating a metal at a high temperature in a vacuum vessel with a laser beam. In an isotope separation apparatus that separates into products and waste by selective excitation and ionization, a plurality of sub-vacuum chambers are connected in series in the vertical direction, and the lower the sub-vacuum chamber, the lower the degree of vacuum. Each of the sub-vacuum chambers is evacuated so that each of the sub-vacuum chambers is gradually evacuated to the atmosphere side, and a differential evacuation system having an upper end communicating with the vacuum vessel via a gate valve is provided.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a product / waste product unloading device of an isotope separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the vacuum vessel a shown in the figure, a metal vapor stream generated by heating a metal at a high temperature is irradiated with a laser beam to selectively excite and ionize the isotope to separate the product into waste. Will be

In the isotope separation device product / waste carry-out device according to the present embodiment, the two systems of differential exhaust systems 20 each have an upper end communicating with the bottom of the vacuum vessel a via the gate valve 10. ing. Each differential evacuation system 20 has a structure in which a plurality of (four in this example) sub-vacuum chambers 21 are connected in series in the up-down direction. An orifice 22 is arranged between the sub-vacuum chambers 21 of each differential evacuation system 20. Further, the lower part of the sub vacuum chamber 21 at the lower end is open to the atmosphere through the orifice 22 at the lower end.

Each sub-vacuum chamber 21 is evacuated (not shown) through an exhaust pipe 31 in which an exhaust valve 30 is interposed.
Is evacuated. At this time, by adjusting the valve opening of each exhaust valve 30 and the opening of each orifice 22,
The degree of vacuum is set so as to gradually increase toward the atmosphere as the lower sub-vacuum chamber 21 is located. Therefore, the degree of vacuum in the uppermost sub-vacuum chamber 21 can be made equal to the degree of vacuum in the vacuum vessel a.

On the other hand, in the vacuum vessel a, the chuted scooping section 40 for guiding products and waste products from the product recovery section and the waste product recovery section in the steam filling device (not shown) to the position of the gate valve 10 and A water cooling shooter 41 is provided. Since folds are provided inside the foldable shooter section 40,
When a product or a waste product falls in the foldable shooter section 40, the falling speed of the product or the waste product is delayed, and the cooling of the product or the waste product is performed.
Solidification can be promoted.

A collection container 50 is disposed below the differential evacuation system 20, and a collection container truck 51 for transporting the collection container 50 is also disposed.

In the present embodiment having such a configuration, products and waste products from the product recovery section and the waste product recovery section fall downward through the inside of the foldable shooter section 40 and the water cooling shooter 41. . At the time of the drop, the product and the waste are gradually cooled and become solid during the drop.

When the gate valve 10 is in the open state, the dropped product or waste enters the uppermost sub-vacuum chamber 21 of the differential evacuation system 20 and moves to the lower sub-vacuum chamber 21 sequentially. I will do it. Then, the products and wastes that have moved downward fall into the collection container 50 from the lower part of the lowermost sub-vacuum chamber 21. That is, products and waste can be continuously carried out of the vacuum vessel a.

As described above, the degree of vacuum in each of the sub-vacuum chambers 21 is maintained even when products and waste products move downward in the plurality of sub-vacuum chambers 21. Therefore, even if a product or a waste product is carried out of the vacuum vessel a through the differential evacuation system 20, the degree of vacuum of the vacuum vessel a is maintained, and it is not necessary to release the vacuum of the vacuum vessel a.

When a certain amount of products and waste products are stored in the collection container 50, the collection container cart 51 is moved and transported to a predetermined place.

The gate valve 10 is closed when no product or waste is taken out of the vacuum vessel a or when any trouble occurs in the differential pumping system 20. In this case, the safety is enhanced by providing two gate valves 10 for one system of differential exhaust valves 20.

[0021]

As described above in detail with the embodiments, in the present invention, isotopes are formed by irradiating a metal vapor stream generated by heating a metal at a high temperature in a vacuum vessel with a laser beam. In an isotope separation device that selectively excites and ionizes and separates into a product and a waste product, a plurality of sub-vacuum chambers have a structure in which the sub-vacuum chambers are connected in series in the up-down direction. Each sub-vacuum chamber is evacuated so that the temperature gradually increases to the atmosphere side, and a differential evacuation system is provided, the upper end of which is communicated with the vacuum vessel via a gate valve.

With this configuration, according to the present invention, it is possible to continuously carry out products and wastes to the outside of the vacuum vessel without releasing the vacuum of the vacuum vessel and with the operation of the isotope separation apparatus continued. it can.

[0023] This makes it possible to carry out products and waste products accompanying the increase in the size of the isotope separation apparatus continuously without opening the vacuum in the vacuum vessel. In addition, it is possible to carry out a large amount of products and waste products from inside the vacuum vessel system to outside the vacuum vessel system in one line, and the work time is shortened by automating the carry-out work. The time can be shortened and the cost can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a product / waste product unloading device of an isotope separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a conventional product / waste product unloading device.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a conventional product / waste product unloading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Crucible drive stand 2 Universal joint with shaft 3 Rotation introduction terminal 4 Recovery groove 10 Gate valve 20 Differential exhaust system 21 Sub-vacuum chamber 22 Orifice 30 Exhaust valve 31 Exhaust pipe 40 Shooter with fold 41 Water cooling shooter 50 Recovery container 51 Recovery Container cart a Vacuum container

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An isotope that selectively excites and ionizes isotopes by irradiating a metal vapor stream generated by heating a metal at a high temperature in a vacuum vessel with laser light to separate the isotopes into products and waste products. In the separation device, a plurality of sub-vacuum chambers have a structure in which the sub-vacuum chambers are connected in series in the up-down direction and communicate with each other. An isotope separation device product / waste carry-out device, comprising: a differential evacuation system which is evacuated and has an upper end communicating with the vacuum container via a gate valve.