Numerical investigation of a high rotating isotopic flow using laminar and turbulent models

The effective separation of the desired isotope of the elements that are necessary for nuclear applications is a major challenge. Gas centrifuge technology is the most efficient method for isotopic separation, which takes advantage of highly compressible flow. This paper uses ANSYS Fluent software to simulate the behavior of gas in a centrifugal machine with an axially symmetric model in steady state of a high rotating experimental facility. Integrated Computer Engineering and Manufacturing software is used to grid the rotor's geometry in two-dimensional coordinates. The k–ε Re-normalization group model has been used to examine the effects of turbulence on the gas flow inside the rotor because of its acceptable accuracy in a variety of turbulent flows. Following the grid independence study, the simulation's first section examined the changes in mass flux, temperature, and velocity along the radial layers in laminar and turbulent flows. The impact of operating parameters, such as feed flow rate, waste scoop swirl velocity, and temperature differential between the caps, has been assessed in the following to determine the optimal separation power and overall separation factor in both laminar and turbulent flow regimes. The results show that the assumption of laminar flow produces a relative error of 22.7% and turbulent flow produces a relative error of 6.3% in comparison with the measured separation power of the high rotating experimental facility.