Fuel Clean-Up System: Poisoning of Palladium-Silver Membranes by Gaseous Impurities
Fusion Science and Technology / Volume 14 / Number 2P2A / September 1988 / Pages 614-618
Tritium Processing / Proceedings of the Third Topical Meeting on Tritium Technology in Fission, Fusion and Isotopic Applications (Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 1-6, 1988) / dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST88-A25202
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The feasibility of a permeation process using a palladium-silver alloy membrane, to separate deuterium and tritium from fusion reactor gaseous wastes needs demonstration owing to poisoning effects of impurities. A parametric investigation of the poisoning by the most important expected gaseous impurities (CO, CO2 and CH4) is carried out with the loop PALLAS, in function of membrane temperature (100 to 450°C), H2 pressure (0.3 to 14 kPa) and impurity concentration (0.2 to 9.5 vol.%). The poisoning effect of CO is a concern for the process while CO2 and CH4 appear to have no practical effect on the permeation rate. Depending on CO concentration optimal operating temperatures of the membrane should lie between 250 and 375°C limits.
