Modelling of a hydrogen permeation process from gas phase towards liquid sodium and experimental set-up for prototype testing

Pietro Brazzale (1) , Aurélien Chassery (1) , Thierry Gilardi (1) , Christian Latgé (1) , Xuan Mi Meyer (2) , Xavier Joulia (2)

1 CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives
2 LGC - Laboratoire de Génie Chimique

Hydrogen permeation through nickel dense membrane applied to Sodium cooled Fast Reactors has been studied theoretically and experimentally. In order to investigate the coupling of nickel membrane with external gas and sodium flows, an analytical model based on mass transfer resistances is developed. A sensitivity analysis showed that, for enough thick membranes and high sodium velocities, the nickel resistance has the most important effect. A permeator prototype constituted of four Ni201 tubular membranes, has been designed: experimental tests at pilot-scale are carried out at different temperatures, gas pressures and flowrates, both in gas-vacuum and gas-sodium configuration. Results for permeation against vacuum demonstrate that hydrogen diffusion within the membrane is the limiting step, in accordance with previous literature results obtained for pure nickel permeation experiments.

Mots clés: Hydrogen; Permeation; Sodium; Nickel; Tritium; Sodium fast reactor

Domaines: Génie chimique; Génie des procédés

Pietro Brazzale, Aurélien Chassery, Thierry Gilardi, Christian Latgé, Xuan Mi Meyer, et al.. Modelling of a hydrogen permeation process from gas phase towards liquid sodium and experimental set-up for prototype testing. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2020, 159, pp.555-564. ⟨10.1016/j.cherd.2020.05.012⟩. ⟨hal-03031866⟩