Design of Gaseous Tritium Recovery System Applying Commercially Available Membrane-Type Dehumidifier

Abstract

In order to realize the planned deuterium plasma experiments using the large helical device (LHD), the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) is planning to install a system for tritium recovery from exhaust gas. While adopting typical tritium recovery systems, NIFS has also made plans for the development of a compact reduced-waste recovery system by applying a membrane-type dehumidifier. The applicability of a commercially available membrane dehumidifier has been evaluated experimentally, with the results indicating that such a membrane is feasible for practical application. Based on performance test results, the optimum specifications of the membrane dehumidifier are evaluated quantitatively and an actual tritium recovery system for the LHD has been designed.

KEYWORDS:

• tritium
• hydrogen isotope
• tritium recovery
• tritium separation
• dew point
• atmospheric detritiation system
• membrane filter
• membrane dehumidifier
• polyimide membrane
• hollow fiber filter
• large helical device