Development of a Pressure Swing Adsorption Process for Recovery of Tritium from Solid Ceramic Breeder Helium Purge Gas of a Fusion Reactor

Abstract

A new PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) process for recovering hydrogen isotopes from the helium purge of a fusion reactor breeder blanket has recently been developed by Ontario Hydro. The PSA process is based on using a molecular sieve (5A) at 77 K, with pressure cycling from about 1.1 MPa during the adsorption cycle, to a rough vacuum (~0.2 kPa) during regeneration. Laboratory studies on a small scale PSA column were carried out at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). The results of the laboratory study confirm that PSA is a feasible process for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) and high purity (> 90%) hydrogen isotopes can be obtained from the ITER blanket containing only 0.1% total hydrogen isotopes in helium. The preliminary design of a PSA pilot plant on a scale of one fortieth of the ITER (or about 3 g T/day) has been developed by Ontario Hydro on behalf of the Canadian Fusion Fuels Technology Project (CFFTP). The laboratory test results and the preliminary PSA pilot plant design are presented in this paper.