A system and method for the enrichment of helium-3 based on a phase separation entropy filter
By cascading a phase separation container with an entropy filter, and utilizing the phase separation and vapor pressure difference between helium-3 and helium-4 at extremely low temperatures, efficient and continuous helium-3 enrichment is achieved. This solves the enrichment limit problem of entropy filters in existing technologies and provides high-purity helium-3 products suitable for quantum computing and national defense security fields.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- 粤港澳大湾区(广东)量子科学中心
- Filing Date
- 2026-06-04
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-17
AI Technical Summary
Existing entropy filter methods cannot continue to enrich helium-3 after the abundance reaches 20%, and cryogenic distillation equipment is complex and difficult to operate stably. Cryogenic adsorption methods are inefficient, and thermal flushing methods are suitable for extremely low abundances, but cannot meet the requirements for efficient enrichment of helium-3 at medium and low abundances.
An entropy filter system based on phase separation is adopted, which cascades a phase separation container with an entropy filter. By utilizing the phase separation and vapor pressure difference of helium-3 and helium-4 at extremely low temperatures, the mixture is pre-separated into upper and lower phases in the phase separation container, and the lower phase is further processed in the entropy filter to achieve efficient and continuous helium-3 enrichment.
It breaks through the enrichment limit of entropy filters and achieves direct enrichment of high-abundance 99.9% helium-3. The system is simple and easy to control, with a high overall recovery rate. It is suitable for the efficient separation of medium- and low-abundance helium-3, meeting the needs of quantum computing and national defense security.
Smart Images
Figure CN122399562A_ABST