Software development for the simulation and design of the cryogenic distillation cascade used for hydrogen isotope separation

Abstract

The hydrogen isotope separation system (ISS) based on cryogenic distillation is one of the key systems of the fuel cycle of a fusion reactor. Similar with ITER ISS in a Water Detritiation Facility for a CANDU reactor, one of the main systems is cryogenic distillation. The developments on the CANDU water detritiation systems have shown that a cascade of four cryogenic distillation columns is required in order to achieve the required decontamination factor of the heavy water and a tritium enrichment up to 99.9%.This paper aims to present the results of the design and simulation activities in support to the development of the Cernavoda Tritium Removal Facility (CTRF). Beside the main features of software developed “in house”, an introduction to the main relevant issues of a CANDU tritium removal facility for the ITER ISS is provided as well. Based on the input data (e.g. the flow rates, the composition of the gas supplied into the cryogenic distillation cascade, pressure drop along the column, liquid inventory) the simulation provides the distribution of all the molecular species involved along each cryogenic distillation column and also the temperature profile along the columns.The approach for the static and dynamic simulation of a cryogenic distillation process is based on theoretical plates model and the calculations are performed incrementally plate by plate.