Design of a Multi-Tube Pd-Membrane Module for Tritium Recovery from He in DEMO
نویسندگان
چکیده
Dense self-supported Pd-alloy membranes are used to selectively separate hydrogen and hydrogen isotopes. In particular, deuterium (D) and tritium (T) are currently identified as the main elements for the sustainability of the nuclear fusion reaction aimed at carbon free power generation. In the fusion nuclear reactors, a breeding blanket produces the tritium that is extracted and purified before being sent to the plasma chamber in order to sustain the fusion reaction. In this work, the application of Pd-alloy membranes has been tested for recovering tritium from a solid breeding blanket through a helium purge stream. Several simulations have been performed in order to optimize the design of a Pd-Ag multi-tube module in terms of geometry, operating parameters, and membrane module configuration (series vs. parallel). The results demonstrate that a pre-concentration stage before the Pd-membrane unit is mandatory because of the very low tritium concentration in the He which leaves the breeding blanket of the fusion reactor. The most suitable operating conditions could be reached by: (i) increasing the hydrogen partial pressure in the lumen side and (ii) decreasing the shell pressure. The preliminary design of a membrane unit has been carried out for the case of the DEMO fusion reactor: the optimized membrane module consists of an array of 182 Pd-Ag tubes of 500 mm length, 10 mm diameter, and 0.100 mm wall thickness (total active area of 2.85 m2).
منابع مشابه
Techno-economic evaluation of helium recovery from natural gas; A comparison between inorganic and polymeric membrane technology
Natural gas produced at high pressure (50-70 bar) is the only industrial source of helium (He). A membrane separation process may offer a more efficient production system with smaller footprint and lower operational cost than conventional cryogenic system. Inorganic membranes with high mechanical strength are known to exhibit good stability at high pressure. In this work, two inorganic membrane...
متن کاملTheoretical Performance Evaluation of Inorganic (Non Pd-Based) Membranes for Hydrogen Separation
The aim of this work theoretical study is to theoretically investigate a inorganic membrane assisted purifcation process of an H2-rich stream derived from a conventional methanol steam reforming stage. In particular, a black-box model for multicomponent gas mixture purifcation is dev...
متن کاملComposite Multi Wall Carbon Nano Tube Polydimethylsiloxane Membrane Bioreactor for Enhanced Bioethanol Production from Broomcorn Seeds
Broomcorn seed (Sorghum vulgare) was used as raw material for bioethanol production. Optimum conditions were obtained from response surface method. Broomcorn seed flour (45 g/l) was treated by alkaline treatment and dual enzymatic hydrolysis (0.7 g/l of α- amylase and 0.42 g/l of amyloglucosidase). The hydrolyzed total sugar of 25.5 g/L was used in conventional bioethanol production (8.1 g/l) u...
متن کاملEffect of Ultrasonication on Membrane Structure and Flux Recovery for Whey Ultrafiltration
In this study, the effect of ultrasound irradiation on the flux recovery and fouling mitigation for the membranes made of the polysulfone by the phase inversion method were investigated. Two ultrasound irradiation regimes, including inside and outside the module, were chosen for this study. The experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of ultrasound irradiation on the membrane struct...
متن کاملScale-Up Design Analysis and Modelling of Cobalt Oxide Silica Membrane Module for Hydrogen Processing
This work shows the application of a validated mathematical model for gas permeation at high temperatures focusing on demonstrated scale-up design for H2 processing. The model considered the driving force variation with spatial coordinates and the mass transfer across the molecular sieve cobalt oxide silica membrane to predict the separation performance. The model was used to study the process ...
متن کامل