skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Zeolite membrane cascade for tritium extraction and recovery systems

Abstract

Membrane separation by zeolite membranes has been proposed as a pre-concentration stage for the tritium extraction from the purge helium of the breeding blanket combined with a final recovery by the catalytic membrane reactor PERMCAT. This fully continuous operation improves the tritium management in fusion machines, minimizing the tritium inventory. For the first time, the permeation measurements for H{sub 2} - He mixtures through a MFI-alumina hollow fibre membrane has been measured for different compositions (0.1 - 20% H{sub 2}) and temperatures. Such a highly permeable membrane, although it shows a limited selectivity, appears attractive for tritium recovery in the blanket. This will imply its operation in a membrane cascade, for which simulation work is ongoing. Mathematically the process is modeled using mass balance equations that can be transformed into the matrix form and solved iteratively assuming a permeate concentration on the first step of iteration, until the separation requirements are fulfilled.

Authors:
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology - KIT, Institute for Technical Physics, Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany)
  2. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology - KIT, Institute of Thermal Process Ingineering, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22429693
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Fusion Science and Technology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 67; Journal Issue: 2; Conference: TRITIUM 2013: 10. International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology, Nice Acropolis (France), 21-25 Oct 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France; 8 refs.; Journal ID: ISSN 1536-1055
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; ALUMINIUM OXIDES; BREEDING BLANKETS; HELIUM; HYDROGEN; ITERATIVE METHODS; MEMBRANES; TRITIUM; TRITIUM RECOVERY; ZEOLITES

Citation Formats

Borisevich, O., Demange, D., Lefebvre, X., and Kind, M. Zeolite membrane cascade for tritium extraction and recovery systems. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.13182/FST14-T6.
Borisevich, O., Demange, D., Lefebvre, X., & Kind, M. Zeolite membrane cascade for tritium extraction and recovery systems. United States. https://doi.org/10.13182/FST14-T6
Borisevich, O., Demange, D., Lefebvre, X., and Kind, M. 2015. "Zeolite membrane cascade for tritium extraction and recovery systems". United States. https://doi.org/10.13182/FST14-T6.
@article{osti_22429693,
title = {Zeolite membrane cascade for tritium extraction and recovery systems},
author = {Borisevich, O. and Demange, D. and Lefebvre, X. and Kind, M.},
abstractNote = {Membrane separation by zeolite membranes has been proposed as a pre-concentration stage for the tritium extraction from the purge helium of the breeding blanket combined with a final recovery by the catalytic membrane reactor PERMCAT. This fully continuous operation improves the tritium management in fusion machines, minimizing the tritium inventory. For the first time, the permeation measurements for H{sub 2} - He mixtures through a MFI-alumina hollow fibre membrane has been measured for different compositions (0.1 - 20% H{sub 2}) and temperatures. Such a highly permeable membrane, although it shows a limited selectivity, appears attractive for tritium recovery in the blanket. This will imply its operation in a membrane cascade, for which simulation work is ongoing. Mathematically the process is modeled using mass balance equations that can be transformed into the matrix form and solved iteratively assuming a permeate concentration on the first step of iteration, until the separation requirements are fulfilled.},
doi = {10.13182/FST14-T6},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22429693}, journal = {Fusion Science and Technology},
issn = {1536-1055},
number = 2,
volume = 67,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}