Study about sorption in sponge and powder titanium of hydrogen isotopes obtained from a cryogenic distillation process

Abstract

Currently, hydrogen may be stored as a compressed gas or as cryogenic liquid. Neither method appears to be practical for many applications in which hydrogen use would otherwise be attractive. For example, gaseous storage of stationary fuel is not feasible because of the large volume or weight of the storage vessels. Liquid hydrogen could be used extensively but the liquefaction process is relatively expensive. The hydrogen can be stored for a long term with a high separation factor, like solid metal hydride. Using hydride-forming metals and intermetallic compounds, for example, recovery, purification and storage of heavy isotopes in a tritium-containing system, can solve many problems arising in the nuclear fuel cycle. This paper presents a comparative study about hydrogen sorption obtained from a cryogenic distillation process, on two titanium structures: powder and sponge. Also presented is the characterization, by X-ray diffraction, of two structures, before and after the sorption process.