METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING IONS IN A FLUID MEDIUM

摘要

A method and apparatus are disclosed for separating and enriching the concentration of a selected ion species in a fluid medium which contains other contaminant ion species. A rotating non-uniform electric field is generated in the apparatus, which causes migration of ions in fluid medium towards the centre region of the field, A flow separator is located near the centre of the field so that a small amount of fluid medium, and the entrained ions are extracted from the centre region of the field. In addition, a magnetic coil is mounted around the apparatus for generating a uniform magnetic field. The magnetic field strength and the rotation rate of the electric field are controlled so that the excitation frequency provided by the electric field corresponds to the cyclotron frequency of the selected ion species.