On the study of catalytic membrane reactor for water detritiation: Membrane characterization.

Jérémy Mascarade (1) , Karine Liger (1) , Michèle Troulay (1) , Xavier Joulia (2) , Xuân-Mi Meyer (2) , Christophe Perrais (1) , Silvano Tosti (3)

1 CEA Cadarache
2 LGC - Laboratoire de Génie Chimique
3 ENEA - Italian National agency for new technologies, Energy and sustainable economic development [Frascati]

Tritium waste recycling is a real economic and ecological issue. Generally under the non-valuable Q2Oform (Q = H, D or T), waste can be converted into fuel Q2for a fusion machine (e.g. JET, ITER) by isotopeexchange reaction Q2O + H2= H2O + Q2. Such a reaction is carried out over Ni-based catalyst bed packed ina thin wall hydrogen permselective membrane tube. This catalytic membrane reactor can achieve higherconversion ratios than conventional fixed bed reactors by selective removal of reaction product Q2bythe membrane according to Le Chatelier’s Law. This paper presents some preliminary permeation tests performed on a catalytic membrane reactor.Permeabilities of pure hydrogen and deuterium as well as those of binary mixtures of hydrogen, deu-terium and nitrogen have been estimated by measuring permeation fluxes at temperatures ranging from573 to 673 K, and pressure differences up to 1.5 bar. Pure component global fluxes were linked to perme-ation coefficient by means of Sieverts’ law. The thin membrane (150 μm), made of Pd–Ag alloy (23 wt.%Ag),showed good permeability and infinite selectivity toward protium and deuterium. Lower permeabilityvalues were obtained with mixtures containing non permeable gases highlighting the existence of gasphase resistance. The sensitivity of this concentration polarization phenomenon to the composition andthe flow rate of the inlet was evaluated and fitted by a two-dimensional model.

Mots clés: Tritium waste; Catalytic membrane reactor; Isotope exchange; Detritiation; Heavy watera

Domaines: Génie chimique

Jérémy Mascarade, Karine Liger, Michèle Troulay, Xavier Joulia, Xuân-Mi Meyer, et al.. On the study of catalytic membrane reactor for water detritiation: Membrane characterization.. Fusion Engineering and Design, 2013, 88 (6-8), pp.844-848. ⟨10.1016/j.fusengdes.2013.01.057⟩. ⟨hal-03523381⟩