title: High-purity thermoacoustic isotope enrichment.
abstract: In a tube many wavelengths long, thermoacoustic separation of a gas mixture can produce very high purities. A flexible wall allows a spatially continuous supply of acoustic power into such a long tube. Coiling the tube and immersing it in a fluid lets a single-wavelength, circulating, traveling pressure wave in the fluid drive all the wavelengths in the tube wall and gas. Preliminary measurements confirm many aspects of the concept with neon ((20)Ne and (22)Ne) and highlight some challenges of practical implementation.
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Swift
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Backhaus