Hydrogen isotope separation with palladium particle bed

Abstract

Calculations and experiments of the isotopic exchange from a hydride to a deuteride and from a deuteride to a hydride are comparatively conducted for a basic study of the hydrogen isotope separation using a metal particle bed. The numerical calculations reveal in terms of the dimensionless parameters of Pe h, St g, St s and St r how much effect longitudinal dispersion in the bed, diffusion in the gaseous phase and the solid phase, and the intrinsic isotopic exchange process, have on an effluent curve. The H–D isotopic exchange experiment using a Pd bed shows that the effluent curves under the condition of the comparatively high D concentration agree with those of the local equilibrium model regardless of the H to D and D to H exchanges.