Study on Tritium Removal Performance by Gas Separation Membrane with Reflux Flow for Tritium Removal System of Fusion Reactor

Addition of gas separation membrane process into the usual tritium removal process from an indoor atmosphere is attractive for a fusion plant, where a large amount of atmosphere should be processed. As a manner to improve the partial pressure difference between feed and permeated side, intended reflux of vapor and the hydrogen concentrated at permeated side is conceived to enlarge the partial pressure difference. Membrane separation with reflux flow has been proposed as an attractive process to enhance the recovery ratio of tritium component. Effect of reflux on the recovery ratio of tritium component was evaluated by numerical analysis. The effect of reflux on separation performance becomes striking as the target species have higher permeability coefficients. Hence, the gas separation by membrane with reflux flow is favorable for tritium recovery.