Performance Tests of Tritium Separation by LPCE Column at TLK Facility

The research for the performance improvement of the Liquid Phase Chemical Exchange (LPCE) column has been carried out at Nagoya University in collaboration with National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) and Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK). Kogel catalysts and Dixon gauze rings were mixed at a certain ratio and packed in the column in a random manner. Performance tests of tritium separation by the column using tritiated water of 26 kBq/cm³ in the electrolyzer were performed at the TLK experimental facility. An effect of axial mixing on the separative performance of the column was examined by a stage-wise model, named "Channeling stage model." It was suggested by the analyses that quite a long-distance axial mixing generated in the water phase.