Peculiar properties of transient processes in cascades with additional product flow

Abstract One of the important stages in the campaign for separation of multicomponent isotopic mixtures is bringing the separation cascade to a stationary mode of operation. This process, depending on the applied separation method, can be characterized by a relatively long time with associated consumption of the working substance and operating costs. Therefore, the search for the values of the control parameters of the cascade at which it is possible to reduce the transient process time is practically a significant problem in the theory of isotope separation in cascades. One of the current trends in the modern theory of cascades is the study of physical laws of stationary mass transfer in cascades with additional outgoing flows. Such cascades can find application for solving a number of urgent problems, in particular, obtaining relatively high concentrations of isotopes with intermediate masses. At the same time, the laws of unsteady mass transfer in such cascades remain poorly understood. The paper analyses the key patterns of transient processes in a square cascade with an additional product flow. The interconnections between the time of bringing such a cascade to the stationary mode and the external conditions under which the process of separation of the mixture occurs are revealed.