Tritium recovery from contaminated water via infrared laser multiple-photon dissociation

Conference · Wed Oct 21 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:5622767

Herman, I. P.; Marling, J. B.; Maienschein, J. L.; Griffith, C. M.; Biel, T. J.; Tsugawa, R. T.

The present aim of this program is photochemical removal of the 7 ppM concentration of DTO in D/sub 2/O that is presently found in active heavy water fission reactors (e.g., Savannah River). Though only T/D recovery is under present scrutiny at LLNL, T/H separation can also be performed using infrared laser multiple-photon dissociation (MPD). Laser-based tritium recovery from both light and heavy water may prove to be of great importance in fusion reactors. The overall cycle of the process under investigation entails initial tritiation of a fully deuterated working molecule by catalyzed chemical exchange with the contaminated heavy water, followed by isotopically-selective, room temperature, gas phase, pulsed infrared laser MPD of only the monotritiated molecules, among the transparent, majority fully deuterated specie. In the MPD interaction, the resonant molecule selectively absorbs 30 or more infrared quanta and then dissociates. The tritium-enriched photoproducts are easily removed from the reactant mainstream by physical separation means. Then the cycle continues with retritiation of the photochemically-detritiated working molecule.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5622767
• Report Number(s): UCRL-85982; CONF-811040-155; ON: DE82007229
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

060202* -- Fusion Fuels-- Reprocessing-- (1980-1987)
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400500 -- Photochemistry
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CARBON DIOXIDE LASERS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
GAS LASERS
HEAVY WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFRARED RADIATION
ISOTOPE SEPARATION
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LASER ISOTOPE SEPARATION
LASERS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHOTOLYSIS
RADIATIONS
RECOVERY
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TRITIUM COMPOUNDS
TRITIUM RECOVERY
WATER