Mass transport analysis for tritium removal in FHRs

Abstract

Tritium control and mitigation is one of the most significant issues in Fluoride Salt-cooled High-temperature Reactors (FHRs). To address this issue, a cross-flow tritium removal facility has been proposed to remove molecular tritium, T2, from the primary coolant. To model the performance of the design, a method is developed based on the logarithmic mean difference of the square root of the tritium partial pressures on the upstream side and the purging gas side. A computer code has been developed based on this global analysis method to study the effectiveness of tritium removal in such a cross-flow tritium removal facility. The code is benchmarked against experimental data from a hydrogen separation experiment in the literature and compared with the results from a code based on traditional finite volume method. Evaluation of the cross-flow tritium removal facility designed for FHR systems has also been performed. The results show how the key factors, i.e., the fluid flow rates and tritium inlet concentration affect the performance of the facility.