A numerical method for optimizing the gas flow field in a centrifuge

The performance of a centrifuge which is used in the uranium enrichment industry depends strongly on the gas flow field inside the device. The flow, governed by linearized hydrodynamic equations, is activated by proper boundary conditions which are controllable functions. A numerical method is developed to determine these functions on the boundaries in order to optimize the separative performance. By expanding the control functions in a finite base, the problem is reduced to minimizing a function with respect to a finite number of variables and solved by the simplex method.