ECONOMICAL PRODUCTION OF OXYGEN-18

Creare, Inc., Hanover NH

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (adapted from applicant's abstract): Creare proposes an advanced distillation system for the economical production of the stable oxygen isotope with atomic weight 18 (oxygen 18). Oxygen 18 and the radionuclide fluorine-18 (18F) produced from oxygen 18 have many important research and diagnostic uses in the study and treatment of obesity, cancer, and brain disorders such as Parkinson's and epilepsy. The problem is that the demand for oxygen 18 exceeds current production capabilities. Delivery delays are resulting in stalled research and an inability to perform important diagnostic tests. The primary means for oxygen 18 production is by the distillation of water or nitric oxide. However, conventional distillation columns (tray or packed) must be very tall (i.e. 100 m) and complex (many stages), because the thermodynamic properties of the isotopic compound are so close to the ordinary compound (e. g. H2 16O vs. H2oxygen 18). To address this problem, Creare proposes a novel distillation column design that greatly enhances the vapor/liquid interfacial area and reduces the mass transfer resistance. This approach has the potential to reduce column height by 70 percent and virtually eliminate the oxygen 18 liquid held up in the column. In Phase I, we will develop mathematical models of our approach and demonstrate the key component. In Phase II we will demonstrate a pilot-scale facility. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The proposed distillation system for the production of 18O has excellent commercial potential. 18O and 18F produced from 18O are critical diagnositic tools for obesity, cancer, and brain disorders. The market for 18O is estimated to be approximately $15M to $25M annually. Our distillation approach will reduce the cost of 18O by a factor of five, increase production to meet demand, and enable more widespread use of procedures that require 18O and its derivative 18F. In addition, the proposed distillation process has broad application in the isotopic separation of other elements. For instance, the market for isotopically pure 29Si produced by the proposed technology for next-generation microprocessors could be hundreds of millions of dollars per year.