Process for obtaining deuterium from hydrogen-containing components and the production of heavy water therefrom

Claim 2

contacting the purified source material stream with a stream of hydrogen containing less than a normal abundance of deuterium and a hydrogenation-dehydrogenation catalyst at a temperature from about 400* to about 1800*F., a pressure from about atmospheric up to about 10,000 psia and a feed rate of source material, in the vapor phase, plus hydrogen from about 1,000 to about 100,000 standard volumes of gas per hour per volume of catalyst with the volume ratio of hydrogen to source material being from about 5:1 to about 0.5:1 in a first transfer stage thereby transferring deuterium from the source material stream to the hydrogen stream and producing a first deuterium-enriched hydrogen stream and a first source material stream of reduced deuterium content,

Claim 3

separating the deuterium-enriched hydrogen from the source material of reduced deuterium content,

Claim 4

separating the first deuterium-enriched hydrogen stream from the first source material stream of reduced deuterium content,

Claim 5

subjecting the deuterium-enriched hydrogen to a first fractionation to provide a superenriched deuterium fraction and a hydrogen fraction of reduced deuterium content,

Claim 6

The process of claim 2 wherein the deuterium-enriched hydrogen fraction from step (5) is recycled to the first fractionation of step (3).

Claim 7

The process of claim 2 wherein the hydrogen fraction of reduced deuterium content from step (3) is recycled to the contacting of step (1).

Claim 8

fractionating the first deuterium-enriched hydrogen stream into a substantially deuterium-free hydrogen fraction and a superenriched deuterium fraction,

Claim 9

contacting the superenriched deuterium fraction with a catalyst effective to equilibrate the superenriched deuterium fraction at a temperature from about room temperature up to about 300*F.,

Claim 10

subjecting the equilibrated, superenriched deuterium fraction to a second fractionation to provide a deuterium-enriched hydrogen fraction and a substantially pure deuterium fraction, and

Claim 11

combining the first source material stream of reduced deuterium content from step (3) and the substantially deuterium-free hydrogen fraction from step (4),

Claim 12

The process of claim 2 wherein the hydrogen of reduced deuterium content is substantially deuterium-free.

Claim 13

The process of claim 2 wherein the source material is natural gas.

Claim 14

passing such combined stream into contact with a hydrogenation-dehydrogenation catalyst at a temperature from about 400* to about 1800*F., a pressure from about atmospheric up to about 10,000 psia and a feed rate of source material, in the vapor phase, plus hydrogen from about 1,000 to about 100, 000 standard volumes of gas per hour per volume of catalyst with the volume ratio of hydrogen to source material being from about 5:1 to about 0.5:1, in a second transfer stage thereby producing a second hydrogen stream of enriched deuterium content but containing less than a normal abundance of deuterium and a second source material stream of further reduced deuterium content,

Claim 15

recovering the substantially pure deuterium fraction from step 5 as product.

Claim 16

separating the second hydrogen stream of enriched deuterium content from the second source material stream of further reduced deuterium content,

Claim 17

The process of claim 2 wherein the source material is a lower boiling hydrocarbon containing less than about six carbon atoms.

Claim 18

The process of claim 2 wherein the source material is methane.

Claim 19

passing the second hydrogen stream containing less than a normal abundance of deuterium from step (7) to the first transfer stage of step (2),

Claim 20

contacting the superenriched deuterium fraction from step (4) with a catalyst effective to equilibrate such fraction at a temperature from about room temperature up to about 300*F.

Claim 21

The process of claim 2 wherein the source material is subjected to a purification treatment prior to the contacting of step (1).

Claim 22

A process for obtaining deuterium from a stream of deuterium containing hydrogen-rich hydrocarbon source material which is in the vapor phase at the operating conditions utilized during contacting with hydrogen and in which the ratio of hydrogen atoms to all other atoms is at least 2:1, which process comprises

Claim 23

subjecting the equilibrated, superenriched deuterium fraction to a second fractionation to provide a deuterium-enriched hydrogen fraction and a substantially pure deuterium fraction, and

Claim 24

recycling the deuterium-enriched hydrogen fraction to the first fractionation step and recovering the substantially pure deuterium fraction as product.

Claim 25

The process of claim 10 wherein the source material is natural gas.

Claim 26

The process of claim 10 wherein the source material is methane.

Claim 27

A process for producing heavy water of high concentration which comprises reacting the substantially pure deuterium product from claim 2 with substantially pure oxygen thereby producing substantially pure heavy water (D2O).

Claim 28

A process for producing heavy water of high concentration which comprises reacting the substantially pure deuterium product from claim 10 with substantially pure oxygen thereby producing substantially pure heavy water (D2O).