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IRON
Natural Abundance, Stable Isobars Fe54, 5.84%, Cr54 Fe56, 91.68%, Ni58 Fe57, 2.17% Fe58, 0.31% Ferrous chloride is the only charge material which has been used in the separation of iron isotopes. The usual charge consists of 600 g FeCl2 in a style C-18 graphite charge bottle. Hydrated FeCl2 obtained from commercial sources is desiccated by beating under vacuum and fusing before being used in the calutron. In order to prepare FeCl2 in the laboratory, 100 g of iron filings are dissolved in 600 ml of 1:1 hydrochloric acid contained in a 3000 ml beaker. Usually twelve batches are prepared and the reaction is allowed to proceed overnight. The combined solutions are filtered and evaporated to incipient crystallization. Green crystals of ferrous chloride tetrahydrate are removed by filtering and are then heated to 450° C at a pressure of 50-75 m to remove the water of crystallization. The anhydrous FeCl2 is transferred to an iron reactor, heated by induction until molten (mp, 670° C), and allowed to cool under an inert gas. The fused product is broken out of the reactor and stored in sealed containers until used as charge material. Iron and its compounds are not considered toxic. |
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