18 O-labeled water (Water-18 O) is a widely used raw material of 18 F-labeled diagnostic agents in positron emission tomography (PET). Conventionally, Water-18 O has been separated from other stable oxygen isotope species (16 O, 17 O) by water distillation or nitric oxide distillation. However, conventional methods are costly and may have safety issues. In 2004, we developed the first unit of our novel oxygen isotope separation process by cryogenic oxygen distillation to overcome these issues. To meet the needs of the market, we built a second unit in 2013 and a third in 2016. We are now operating three commercially viable separation units with a total capacity of 600 kg of Water-18 O per year.

中文翻译：

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通过氧蒸馏工业分离氧同位素

18 O标记水（Water-18 O）是正电子发射断层扫描（PET）中广泛使用的18 F标记诊断剂的原料。通常，Water-18 O 已通过水蒸馏或一氧化氮蒸馏与其他稳定的氧同位素物种 (16 O, 17 O) 分离。然而，传统方法成本高且可能存在安全问题。2004 年，我们通过低温氧气蒸馏开发了我们的新型氧同位素分离工艺的第一台装置，以克服这些问题。为满足市场需求，我们在 2013 年建造了第二个装置，并在 2016 年建造了第三个装置。我们现在运营着三个商业上可行的分离装置，每年总容量为 600 公斤水-18 O。