Thermal Cycling Absorption Process (TCAP): Instrument and Simulation Development Status at Los Alamos National Laboratory

The Thermal Cycling Absorption Process (TCAP) Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory has been a collaborative effort with Savannah River Site to demonstrate the Tube-in-Tube (TnT) column design and to improve TCAP science. TnT TCAP is an alternative design which uses a liquid to thermally cycle the metal hydride packed column. Inert gas displacement tests and deuterium pulse tests have been performed on the TnT TCAP column. The inert gas displacement tests are designed to measure plug flow in the column while the deuterium pulse tests determine the separation ability of the column. A residual gas analyzer measures the gases in the exit stream and the experimental results are compared with pulse test model results.