Engineering study on lithium isotope separation by ion exchange chromatography

We have been studying the lithium isotope separation by ion exchange chromatography for the engineering development. We performed the lithium isotope separation experiments by chromatography. From the results, we estimated the migration lengths required to obtain the 20 %, 50 %, and 90 % enriched lithium-6, the required lengths are 340, 1600, and 5800 m, respectively. We studied the detection methods of lithium adsorption band boundary in order to design the circular type chromatographic equipment, which type equipment is required for the industrial plant. Based on these investigations, we designed the automatic circular type chromatographic equipment with the boundary interface detector and manufactured the prototype equipment.

Automated summary

The study focused on lithium isotope separation using ion exchange chromatography for engineering development, conducting experiments to estimate migration lengths needed for different levels of lithium-6 enrichment. Detection methods for lithium adsorption band boundaries were examined to design circular chromatographic equipment for industrial use, resulting in the design and manufacture of an automatic circular chromatographic equipment prototype with a boundary interface detector.