K_MACART@UNHH.BITNET (03/31/89)
I asked how to extract Deuterium in a previous posting, and got a
response from a person at Perdue. They wanted me to pass it on the net:
Apparently, all you have to do is electrolysis. The heavy water stays
longer, so you stop when you have 1/1000 your initial volume (the concentration
of Deuterium in seawater). Assume you first have to distill all the salt,
biomass and pollution out first, if you can. They then electrolyze the heavy
water to collect the pure ionized Deuterium gas, add electrons and finis.
Seems reasonably simple, so that cold fusion is probably a false start,
because the fuel is easy to produce, the method is somewhat easy to use, and
it seems too good to be true. Time (and trial and error) will tell.
Korac MacArthur
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generic disclaimer
=============================================================================henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (04/03/89)
In article <Added.EYBTt7y00Vs142oE8l@andrew.cmu.edu> K_MACART@UNHH.BITNET writes: > Apparently, all you have to do is electrolysis. The heavy water stays >longer, so you stop when you have 1/1000 your initial volume... Actually this is an inefficient way to make heavy water; it was used in early experiments, and is still used for final purification, but there are more efficient (although more complex) ways to do the early stages. -- Welcome to Mars! Your | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology passport and visa, comrade? | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
spcecdt@ssyx.ucsc.edu (Space Cadet) (04/05/89)
In article <1989Apr2.234927.15218@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
*Actually this is an inefficient way to make heavy water; it was used in
*early experiments, and is still used for final purification, but there
*are more efficient (although more complex) ways to do the early stages.
Could you give us some details?henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (04/06/89)
In article <6829@saturn.ucsc.edu> spcecdt@ssyx.ucsc.edu (Space Cadet) writes: >>... more efficient (although more complex) ways to do the early stages. > > Could you give us some details? Unfortunately I don't remember them very well. Basically, the difference in mass is enough to produce a slight difference in chemical reaction rates. Cycle the stuff through a well-chosen reaction over and over again and you get a fair degree of isotope separation. This is much more energy-efficient than electrolysis. -- Welcome to Mars! Your | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology passport and visa, comrade? | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu