Measurement of heavy water concentration with a density meter

Abstract

A densitometric technique involving the use of a high-sensitivity density meter is described for the determination of a wide range of deuterium contrations in water. The effects of temperature and solute impurities on the method were determined and the purification of water by sublimation and anion-exchange techniques were examined as a means of overcoming the latter. Standard heavy water samples of various concentrations were analysed by this densitometric method and by mass spectrometry, and good agreement between the results was found. The application of the proposed method to the determination of the electrolytic separation factor, α, for deuterium-hydrogen is described.