Analysis of Tritium Behavior in Very High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Coupled with Thermochemical Iodine-Sulfur Process for Hydrogen Production

Abstract

The tritium concentration in the hydrogen product in Japan's future very high temperature gas-cooled reactor (VHTR) system coupled with a thermochemical water-splitting iodine-sulfur (IS) process (VHTRIS system), named GTHTR300C, was estimated by numerical analysis. The tritium concentration in the hydrogen product significantly depended on undetermined parameters, i.e., the permeabilities of a SO3 decomposer and a H2SO4vaporizer made of SiC. Thus, the estimated tritium concentration in the hydrogen product for the conservative analytical condition ranged from 3.4 × 10−3 Bq/cm3 at STP (38 Bq/g-H2) to 0.18 Bq/cm3 at STP (2,000 Bq/g-H2). By considering the tritium retained by core graphite and the reduction in permeation rate by an oxide film on the heat transfer tube of the IHX and the HI decomposer, the tritium concentration in the hydrogen product decreased to the range from 3.3 × 10−5 Bq/cm3 at STP (0.36 Bq/g-H2) to 5.6 × 10−3 Bq/cm3 at STP (63 Bq/g-H2), which were smaller than those for the conservative analytical condition by factors of about 3.2 × 10−2 and 9.6 × 10−3, respectively. The effectof the helium flow rate in the helium purification system on the tritium concentration in the hydrogen product was also evaluated.