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Title: Water Processing for Isotope Recovery Using Porous Zero Valent Iron

Abstract

Reduction-oxidation cycles of metals can be harnessed to create a reusable tritiated water processing system. The concept is straightforward; a tritium-contaminated steam passes over a hot metal bed converting the metal to a metal oxide and liberating hydrogen isotopes for further processing and isotope separation. The bed is regenerated by converting the metal oxide back to a bare metal using protium gas, creating a clean water stream. Free oxygen is not produced during the cyclical process, making it safe for use in a hydrogen processing facility, and the only by-product is detritiated water. Porous zero valent iron (p-ZVI) has been identified as an ideal candidate material for this process due to its low cost, unique morphology, and favorable thermodynamics. Therefore, investigations of p-ZVI were conducted to better understand how a bed composed of such material would behave in a tritium processing facility. The thermal and physical properties were assessed, along with cycling and isotope effects. The results indicate that p-ZVI beds could serve as a low-cost, reusable system for the treatment of water in tritium processing facilities.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)
  2. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1544614
Report Number(s):
SRNL-L2110-2019-00003
Journal ID: ISSN 1536-1055
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC09-08SR22470
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Fusion Science and Technology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 76; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1536-1055
Publisher:
American Nuclear Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; Tritium processing; water splitting; hydrogen; deuterium

Citation Formats

Larsen, George, Hunyadi Murph, Simona E., Coopersmith, Kaitlin, and Mitchell, Lucas. Water Processing for Isotope Recovery Using Porous Zero Valent Iron. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1080/15361055.2019.1598205.
Larsen, George, Hunyadi Murph, Simona E., Coopersmith, Kaitlin, & Mitchell, Lucas. Water Processing for Isotope Recovery Using Porous Zero Valent Iron. United States. https://doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1598205
Larsen, George, Hunyadi Murph, Simona E., Coopersmith, Kaitlin, and Mitchell, Lucas. Wed . "Water Processing for Isotope Recovery Using Porous Zero Valent Iron". United States. https://doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1598205. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1544614.
@article{osti_1544614,
title = {Water Processing for Isotope Recovery Using Porous Zero Valent Iron},
author = {Larsen, George and Hunyadi Murph, Simona E. and Coopersmith, Kaitlin and Mitchell, Lucas},
abstractNote = {Reduction-oxidation cycles of metals can be harnessed to create a reusable tritiated water processing system. The concept is straightforward; a tritium-contaminated steam passes over a hot metal bed converting the metal to a metal oxide and liberating hydrogen isotopes for further processing and isotope separation. The bed is regenerated by converting the metal oxide back to a bare metal using protium gas, creating a clean water stream. Free oxygen is not produced during the cyclical process, making it safe for use in a hydrogen processing facility, and the only by-product is detritiated water. Porous zero valent iron (p-ZVI) has been identified as an ideal candidate material for this process due to its low cost, unique morphology, and favorable thermodynamics. Therefore, investigations of p-ZVI were conducted to better understand how a bed composed of such material would behave in a tritium processing facility. The thermal and physical properties were assessed, along with cycling and isotope effects. The results indicate that p-ZVI beds could serve as a low-cost, reusable system for the treatment of water in tritium processing facilities.},
doi = {10.1080/15361055.2019.1598205},
journal = {Fusion Science and Technology},
number = 1,
volume = 76,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed May 08 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Wed May 08 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}

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