WATER

Field of Application

This invention relates to a method and practical device composition for purification of air from tritium in gaseous form (T ₂ ) and concentrating tritium in form of super-heavy water (tritium oxide, T ₂ 0) or tritiated water(HTO) in common water. The method and composition find application in purification of air from tritium in repositories in which tritium is in form of a gas molecule (T ₂ ) as well as processes, equipment and facilities for extracting of Tritium (T ₂ ) from spent nuclear fuel and processes, equipment and facilities for production and storing of Tritium (T ₂ ) for the needs of thermonuclear reactions. Radioactivity is always detected in the air around equipment and in facilities where Tritium is stored due to the extreme mobility of Tritium in gaseous form.

PRECEDING CONDITION OF TECHNOLOGY

At present the problem with the migration of gaseous Tritium from different types of equipment in which it is stored for different purposes is solved through high temperature oxidation or oxidation in the presence of a catalyst. The obtained tritiated water is separated from the gaseous part by molecular membranes, sorbents and other materials with high water absorbing properties and is stored in that form.

The problem with current methods for purification of gases from Tritium is that the obtained secondary radioactive products are with low Tritium activity which leads to accumulation of large quantities of waste to dispose of.

There are methods for concentrating Tritium in common water through electrolysis, rectification, hydrolysis and membrane diffusion, thermo-sorption processes. They have high energy consumption and relatively low coefficient of concentrating which makes them economically disadvantageous for recovery and concentrating Tritium from volumes of Tritium contaminated gases.

TECHNICAL DESCRITPION

The problem is solved with the air containing T ₂ being recovered from the space or the equipment for Tritium synthesis, processing or storing. Triutium is oxidized in a hermetically sealed chamber at high temperature in the flame of oxyhydrogen coming from an oxyhydrogen generator. After the processing, the obtained mixture of air and water vapours from tritiated and super-heavy water is pumped out of the oxidation chamber, cooled through a cooler and the condensed water is trapped in a water filter. Tritium purified air is then returned to the space/equipment for storing Tritium. The tritiated water trapped in the water filter is fed in portions to the oxyhydrogen generator where it is converted to oxyhydrogen. The obtained gas is used to oxidize the Tritium from the next portion of air containing Tritium. That cycle can be repeated unlimited number of times during which the concentration of Tritium in the water of water filter increases proportionally to the number of cycles.

Initially common water is used for the extraction of Tritium from the air. Hydrogen (H ₂ ) from the oxyhydrogen mixture obtained from this water is much more than the Tritium (T ₂ ) that has to be oxidized. The proportion between the quantity of the Hydrogen atoms (h) to the Tritium atoms (t) is largely in favor of h (h»t).

During the process of oxidation of Hydrogen and Tritium a mixture of common water and water containing Tritium(tritiated water) is obtained. This tritiated water can exist in two forms - HTO H T ₂ 0. Due to the very large proportion of h compared to t (h»t) the possibility to obtain T ₂ 0 is insignificant and the material balance of the process of oxidation with each cycle is described by the formula:

2hH ₂ + 2ntT ₂ + (h+nt)0 ₂ = 2(h-nt)H ₂ 0 + 4ntHTO (1), where: n - number of cycles; h - number of Hydrogen atoms (H) in the device; t - number of Tritium atoms (T) entering the device with each cycle of oxidation

Tritiated water is broken down in the oxyhydrogen generator to oxyhydrogen mixture containing oxygen molecules 0 ₂ and molecules of the three Hydrgoen isotopes (H _2j HT, T ₂ ). The next volume of gas containing Tritium is processed in the flame of the obtained oxyhydrogen mixture from above. That way the concentration of Tritium in the volume of common water increases constantly and at the n-th cycle it is n times higher than in the first one.

Obtaining oxyhydrogen from common, tritiated and super-heavy water, the pumping out of air containing Tritium, oxidation of tritium and the returning of air in the equipment/repository for storing Tritium is accomplished using a device, the principle schematic of which is described in fig.1

EXAMPLE

The described advantages of the proposed method and device could be illustrated with the following example:

A tritium target containing 0,01 grams of Tritium with activity of 3,57.10 ¹² break downs per second ( 3,57.10 ¹⁰ Bq) is held in a metal container. The air from the container with the Tritium target with concentration of Tritium 1.10 ⁴ Bq/M ³

(3,57.10 ^" 10 grams of triti *um in 1 3

M ) is constantly pumped out by a vacuum pump with capacity of 1 M /h and is fed to a chamber(l) with dimensions of d=300 mm and L=250 mm for burning in oxyhydrogen. In the chamber the air is treated with a flow of burning oxyhydrogen from a generator(8) with delivery rate of 100 1/h at temperature of 1000-1300°C. The obtained water vapours are cooled and separated in a water filter(12) with 500 grams of water. The air purified from water vapours is returned to the container. After that way of purification of 200 M ³ of air the water from the water filter is deionized and is transferred to the oxyhydrogen generator. In the generator it is transformed to gaseous oxyhydrogen mixture with oxygen and hydrogen in stoichiometric proportion. Through a pump and a dosing system the oxyhydrogen mixture is fed to a chamber for treating of the incoming for purification gas. The cycle of breaking down of tritiated water to oxyhydrogen, extraction of Tritium from gaseous mixtures, separation of the tritiated water from the gas and obtaining oxyhydrigen again from it is repeated 200 times. With that the concentration of Tritium in the water of the water filter is increased by a coefficient of 200 compared to the first cycle if the initial concentration of Tritium in the air is kept constant and reaches 4.10 ⁶ Wq/kg H ₂ 0 (1,43.10 ^"8 grams T/l kg H ₂ 0).

PUBLICATIONS Myung W. Lee, Thermal Cycling Absorption Process— A New Way to Separate

Hydrogen Isotopes, WSRC-MS-2000-00061

2009 Evaluation of Tritium Removal and Mitigation Technologies for Wastewater Treatment

A.I. Egorov, V.M. Tyunis, DEACTIVATION OF TRITIUM CONTAINING WATERS BY RECTIFICATION METHODS IAEA, TECHNICAL REPORTS SERIES No. 42, MANAGEMENT OF WASTE CONTAINING TRITIUM AND CARBON-14, Vienna, 2004 A. N. PEREVEZENTSEV at all,, WET SCRUBBER COLUMN FOR AIR DETRITIATION, FUSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VOL. 56 NOV. 2009

Patent 5591319, Electrolytic pre-enrichment method and apparatus for the combined electrolysis and catalytic exchange process, 1997

Patent 4190515, Apparatus for removal and recovery of tritium from light and heavy water,1980

DOE-HDBK-1129-99, DOE HANDBOOK TRITIUM HANDLING AND SAFE STORAGE, 1999

DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED FIGURE

Hermetically sealed chamber for Tritium (T ₂ ) oxidation with oxyhydrogen (HHO)

Vacuum generator

Cock

Facility for storing Tritium (T ₂ ).

Electromagnetic valve.

Cock - outgoing gas.

Filter.

Oxyhydrogen Generator (HHO).

Cock.

One-way valve

Cock

Filter

Circulating vacuum pump.

Water filter

Dosing pump

Cock

Cooler