Simultaneous tritium and deuterium transfer in a water detritiation CECE facility at TLK

Abstract

The most suitable process for water detritiation is the combined electrolysis catalytic exchange (CECE) process, a combination of electrolysis and catalytic exchange of hydrogen isotopes in a liquid phase catalytic exchange (LPCE) column. Tritium is recovered in gas phase from tritiated water and then injected in the cryogenic distillation system for further enrichment. At the Tritium Laboratory, Karlsruhe (TLK) a CECE facility is running in order to investigate the simultaneous transfer of tritium and deuterium between gas and water. Experiments are performed to determine the height equivalent of theoretical plate (HETP) and the mass transfer coefficients for deuterium and tritium. The purpose of the experiments is to provide the data required for the design of large water detritiation facility for JET and ITER.