Experimental clarification of the desorption of H2, D2 and He mixtures from cryosorption pumps

Abstract

The behavior of dynamic desorption of He, H2 and D2 from a cryosorption pump is experimentally investigated for simplified rough separation of D-T fuel exhaust from impurities. As a fundamental study to separate the unburned D-T fuel and impurities dynamically, the discharge rates of H2 and D2 (as a representative of T2), He (as a major impurity) are determined as a function of time and temperature, when the cryosorption pump is regenerated from 10K to the room temperature of 285–305K. The release behavior of H2 and D2 is compared, and the desorption isotherms of H2, D2 and He for activated carbon used in the cryosorption pump are determined from their respective discharge curves. The present result may lead to provide a simplified technique to decrease the throughput of the following fuel purification system and to decrease the tritium inventory by rapid separation of the D-T fuel from impurities.