Wang Shibo,Yin Liang,Ju Yonglin.Simulation and Analysis of the Cascade Process for 136Xe Isotope Separation Based on Microchannel Distillation Technology[J].Journal of Refrigeration,2026,47(04):141-147. DOI: 10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20250410001. CSTR: XXXXX.XX.XXX.20250410001.
Wang Shibo,Yin Liang,Ju Yonglin.Simulation and Analysis of the Cascade Process for 136Xe Isotope Separation Based on Microchannel Distillation Technology[J].Journal of Refrigeration,2026,47(04):141-147. DOI: 10.12465/issn.0253-4339.20250410001. CSTR: XXXXX.XX.XXX.20250410001.DOI:
Simulation and Analysis of the Cascade Process for 136Xe Isotope Separation Based on Microchannel Distillation Technology
Conventional distillation methods face significant challenges in xenon isotope separation. This paper proposes a cascaded distillation system based on a microchannel distillation (MCD) apparatus for
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Xe enrichment. The relative volatilities, saturation vapor pressures, and enthalpies of vaporization of the nine Xe isotopes were determined, and a corresponding pseudo-component model was validated in Aspen Hyprotech Systems (HYSYS). A ternary model was then used to optimize
the MCD parameters, identifying the optimal operating pressure, reflux ratio, and feed-to-product ratio effects on enrichment efficiency and reboiler power consumption. Subsequent optimization via uniform design, stepwise quadratic regression, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA)-III, and the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) reduced power consumption while increasing
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Xe abundance from 8.670% to 13.347%. This microchannel cascaded distillation system overcomes conventional limitations and offers a novel and efficient approach for
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Xe enrichment with significant theoretical and practical implications.
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