Performance of a palladium membrane reactor using a Ni catalyst for fusion fuel impurities processing

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:196965

Willm, R S ^[1]; Okuno, K ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
2. Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Ibaraki-ken (Japan)

The palladium membrane reactor (PMR) provides a means to recover hydrogen isotopes from impurities expected to be present in fusion reactor exhaust. This recovery is based on reactions such as water gas shift and steam reforming for which conversion is equilibrium limited. By including a selectively permeable membrane such as Pd/Ag in the catalyst bed, hydrogen isotopes can be removed from the reacting environment, thus promoting the reaction to complete conversion. Such a device has been built and operated at the Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). For the reactions listed above, earlier study with this unit has shown that hydrogen single-pass recoveries approaching 100% can be achieved. It was also determined that a nickel catalyst is a feasible choice for use with a PMR appropriate for fusion fuel impurities processing. The purpose of this study is to systematically assess the performance of the PMR using a nickel catalyst. Reactions which will be studied include the water gas shift reaction, steam reforming and methane cracking. Extended operation will be performed to detect performance degradation if it exists. The use of methane in these tests may lead to the formation of coke on the catalyst. Methods of removing the coke such as treatment with carbon dioxide or diluted oxygen will be examined.

• OSTI ID: 196965
• Report Number(s): CONF-940664--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CATALYSIS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
MEMBRANE TRANSPORT
MEMBRANES
NICKEL
PALLADIUM ALLOYS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SILVER ALLOYS
STEAM REFORMER PROCESSES
TRITIUM SYSTEMS TEST ASSEMBLY
WATER GAS PROCESSES