Environment control system

Patent · 01 January 1978

OSTI ID:863238

Sammarone, Dino G ^[1]

---

1. Edgewood Borough, PA

A system for controlling the environment of an enclosed area in nuclear reactor installations. The system permits the changing of the environment from nitrogen to air, or from air to nitrogen, without the release of any radioactivity or process gas to the outside atmosphere. In changing from a nitrogen to an air environment, oxygen is inserted into the enclosed area at the same rate which the nitrogen-oxygen gas mixture is removed from the enclosed area. The nitrogen-oxygen gas mixture removed from the enclosed area is mixed with hydrogen, the hydrogen recombining with the oxygen present in the gas to form water. The water is then removed from the system and, if it contains any radioactive products, can be utilized to form concrete, which can then be transferred to a licensed burial site. The process gas is purified further by stripping it of carbon dioxide and then distilling it to remove any xenon, krypton, and other fission or non-condensable gases. The pure nitrogen is stored as either a cryogenic liquid or a gas. In changing from an air to nitrogen environment, the gas is removed from the enclosed area, mixed with hydrogen to remove the oxygen present, dried, passed through adsorption beds to remove any fission gases, and reinserted into the enclosed area. Additionally, the nitrogen stored during the nitrogen to air change, is inserted into the enclosed area, the nitrogen from both sources being inserted into the enclosed area at the same rate as the removal of the gas from the containment area. As designed, the amount of nitrogen stored during the nitrogen to air change substantially equals that required to replace oxygen removed during an air to nitrogen change.

• Other Award/Contract Number: AT(11-1)-3046
• Assignee: United States of America as representedby United States (Washington, DC)
• Patent Number(s): US 4129476
• OSTI ID: 863238
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

/376/96/976/
additionally
adsorption
air
amount
atmosphere
beds
burial
carbon
carbon dioxide
change
changing
concrete
containment
contains
control
controlling
cryogenic
designed
dioxide
distilling
dried
enclosed
environment
equals
fission
fission gas
fission gases
form
form water
gas
gas mixture
gases
hydrogen
inserted
installations
krypton
licensed
liquid
mixed
mixture
nitrogen
nitrogen environment
nitrogen-oxygen
non-condensable
non-condensable gas
nuclear
nuclear reactor
outside
oxygen
oxygen gas
passed
permits
process
process gas
products
pure
purified
radioactive
radioactivity
rate
reactor
reactor installation
reactor installations
recombining
reinserted
release
removal
remove
removed
replace
required
site
sources
stored
stripping
substantially
substantially equal
transferred
utilized
water
xenon