The technical solution of a CO laser facility for industrial separation of uranium used in the production of fuel for
nuclear power plants is proposed. There has been used a method of laser isotope separation of uranium, employing
condensation repression in a free jet. The laser operation with nanosecond pulse irradiation can provide acceptable
efficiency in the separating unit and the high effective coefficient of the laser with the wavelength of 5.3 μm. Receiving
a uniform RF discharge under medium pressure and high Mach numbers in the gas stream solves the problem of an
electron beam and cryogenic cooler of CO lasers. The laser active medium is being cooled while it's expanding in the
nozzle; a low-current RF discharge is similar to a non-self-sustained discharge. In the present work we have developed a
calculation model of optimization and have defined the parameters of a mode-locked CO laser with a RF discharge in the
supersonic stream. The CO laser average power of 3 kW is sufficient for efficient industrial isotope separation of
uranium at one facility.
High-power CO laser can be the effective tool in such applications as isotope separation using the free-jet CRISLA
method. The way of transfer from CO small-scale experimental installation to industrial high-power CO lasers is
proposed through the use of a low-current radio-frequency (RF) electric discharge in a supersonic stream without an
electron gun. The calculation model of scaling CO laser with RF discharge in supersonic stream was developed. The
developed model allows to calculate parameters of laser installation and optimize them with the purpose of reception of
high efficiency and low cost of installation as a whole. The technical decision of industrial CO laser for isotope
separation employing condensation repression is considered. The estimated cost of laser is some hundred thousand
dollars USA and small sizes of laser head give possibility to install it in any place.
High-power gas lasers can be the effective tool in such applications as dismantlement of obsolete nuclear
reactors, laser-hardening of the surfaces of railway rails etc. The carried out experiments have shown, that radio frequency
(BY) discharge is an effective source of reception of the vibrational-excited CO molecules. Laser generation
was shown on small-scale experimental installation. For transition to creation high-power CO laser the clear
understanding of the processes occurring in a supersonic stream a CO mixture, excited by RF discharge is necessary,
the calculation model of scaling CO laser with RF discharge in supersonic stream therefore was developed. The
developed model, proceeding from the given power projected CO laser, allows to calculate parameters of laser
installation and to optimize them with the purpose of reception of high value of efficiency and low cost of installation as
a whole. The industrial CO laser for dismantlement of obsolete nuclear reactors and hardening the surfaces of railway
rails is proposed. The estimated cost of laser is some hundred thousand dollars USA and small sizes of laser head give
possibility to install it on manipulator without fiber-optic delivery.
KEYWORDS: Gas lasers, Carbon monoxide, Electrodes, Optical fiber cables, Molecules, Laser development, Ions, High power lasers, Chemical lasers, Lasers
The way of transfer from CO small-scale model installation to industrial CO laser is proposed. A calculation model
scaling of CO laser with RF discharge is developed. The calculation model is used for scaling small-scale experimental
CO laser installation on which laser generation is received. It is proposed industrial CO laser for dismantlement of
obsolete nuclear reactors and laser-hardening of working surfaces of railway rails. Estimated cost proposed CO laser
makes several hundred thousand US dollars. Proposed CO laser can work without an optical cable due to installation of
the laser head on the manipulator.
The laser with power tens of kilowatt would be essential for dismantlement of obsolete nuclear-power reactors, laser-hardening the surfaces of railway rails and etc. The production of high power, high efficiency, high specific energy and high optical beam quality can be obtained in the experimental systems of a quasi-cw electroionization CO laser with cooling a CO mixture by its expansion in the nozzles. The way of transfer to industrial high-power CO lasers is proposed through the continuous formation of a CO laser mixture during laser operation. CO laser mixture is formed by using air as a buffer gas (about 90%). CO molecules are generated in oxidation reaction of oxygen-containing molecules with carbon. The carbon arises from a decomposition of hydrocarbon fuel on the catalyst surface. CO mixture is excited by radio-frequency (RF) electric discharge in a supersonic gas flow without an electron gun. The given conception was used on a small-scale model system to demonstrate that the laser radiation was possible in a CO mixture with combustion products and air, which are excited by RF discharge in a supersonic flow. The industrial CO laser with tens of kilowatt power is offer with open working cycle without ejecting toxic CO into the atmosphere by converting CO molecules to
C02 ones. The estimated cost of a laser is several hundred thousand and the small sizes of laser give possibility to install its on manipulator without fiber-optic delivery.
The production of high power, high efficiency, high specific energy and high optical beam quality can be obtained in the experimental systems of a quasi-cw electroionization CO laser with cooling a CO mixture by its expansion in the nozzles. The way of transfer to industrial high-power CO lasers is proposed through the continuous formation of a CO laser mixture during laser operation. CO laser mixture is formed by using air as a buffer gas (about 90%). CO molecules are generated in oxidation reaction of oxygen-containing molecules with carbon. The carbon arises from a decomposition of hydrocarbon fuel on the catalyst surface. CO mixture is excited by radio-frequency (RF) electric discharge in supersonic gas flow without an electron gun. The given conception was used on a small-scale model system to demonstrate that the laser radiation was possible in a CO mixture with combustion products and air, which are excited by RF discharge in a supersonic flow. The industrial CO-laser with power 20÷40kW is designed with open working cycle without ejecting toxing CO into the atmosphere by converting CO molecules to CO2 ones.
The commercial lasers with power 20 kW and up are created by scaling of well-developed electrodischarge kilowatt CO2 laser with circulating of gas. However, there occurs two negative moments: loss of the optical beam quality and significant increase of laser cost. The first moment is connected not so much with increase of laser beam path between resonator's mirrors as with quantum efficiency of CO2 molecule, which is 0.41, and also with conversion of irremoved vibrational energy to heat in a resonator. The cost of lasers with power 10 kW and higher is considerably increased in scaling of kilowatt CO2 lasers. This is associated with the necessary increase of consumption of active medium, resulting not only in a change of circulating system, but in a change of regeneration system, source of power supply, cooling system, system of extracting radiation, etc. as well.
KEYWORDS: Gas lasers, Carbon monoxide, High power lasers, Combustion, Molecules, Carbon dioxide lasers, Laser systems engineering, Diffusers, Molecular lasers, Resonators
The progression of high-power laser systems gave rise to several concepts of their advent. There are laser systems in which the population inversion is made by thermal pumping (gasdynamic lasers), by chemical reactions (chemical lasers) and by electrical discharge (electric-discharge lasers) or by using their combination. To maintain high-power radiation in the continuous regime, gas flow is used in all lasers. Among there is also idea of creation of electrogasdynamic CO combustion-product laser in using air as buffer gas with demonstrating lasing on the small-scale model system. A multipurpose self-contained laser system of high power with electrogasdynamic CO combustion-product lasers are proposed. For economical and ecological reasons the gasdynamic and chemical lasers are practically unacceptable in industrial applications. Therefore, the proposed electrogasdynamic CO laser is preferable. Determination of efficiency of high- power laser in the industry and optimization its parameters require the formation of particular task. However, at the present time high-power lasers expect only the fields of their application. Widespread use of high-power lasers in the industry is impossible because of limits of existing in high-power lasers, high cost of laser energy production and laser itself. The object of this work is a design of general conception of creating high-power industrial lasers by generalizing results of works. It is allowed to define the ways of their advent and the fields of application and to solve the problem of high-power industrial laser's creation. This problem arose in appearing first lasers. In this case, the fields of application, which are required small powers, are not considered. For example, holography, survey, communications, medicine, etc., do not impose high requirements to power quantity and laser efficiency.
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