• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.219-227
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• 2021

Hydrogen isotopes, which are used as raw materials in fusion reaction, participate in the reaction only in small amount, and most of them are released together with impurities. In order to recover and reuse only hydrogen isotopes from this exhaust gas, a recovery process is required, and most of the hydrogen isotopes can be recovered using a Pd Membrane. In this study, the recovery rate of hydrogen isotopes was measured through the first and second stage Pd membrane experiments. In the case of the experiment using a single stage Pd membrane, about 99.2%, and in the case of the first stage and second stage Pd membrane connection experiments, a recovery rate of 99.9% or more was obtained. Therefore, the recovery rate of Pd membrane process applied to hydrogen can be applied to hydrogen isotopes. In addition, the simulation model was established using aspen custom modeler, a commercial software, and the validity of the simulation was checked by applying the references and experimental data. The simulation results based on the experimental data showed a difference of 2% or less.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2012

Hydrogen isotopes accountancy and storage are important functions in a nuclear fusion fuel cycle. The hydrogen isotopes are safely stored in metal hydride beds. The tritium inventory of the bed is determined from the decay heat of tritium. The decay heat is measured by circulating helium through the metal hydride bed and measuring the resultant temperature increase of the helium flow. We are reporting our preliminary experimental results on the hydrogen isotopes accountancy and storage performance in a metal hydride bed.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2011

China's rapid economic growth has resulted in significant environmental side effects. Therefore, China has been interested in reducing her dependence on foreign oil and gas by developing technologies needed for hydrogen, in addition to her increasing energy mix of nuclear and renewable energy form, such as solar and wind power. There are three isotopes of hydrogen, i.e. protium (P or H), deuterium (D), and tritium (T). Both deuterium and tritium are important materials in nuclear fuel cycle industry. Tritium is one of the critical radioactive nuclides. Planning for and implementing contamination control as a part of normal operation and maintenance activities is an important function in any hydrogen facility, especially tritium facility. The development of hydrogen isotopes analysis is the key issues in this area. Mass spectrometry (MS) with medium (about 600) and high resolution (> 1,400) is commercially available; however, the routine analysis of hydrogen isotopes is done with low-resolution MS (< 200) in China. This paper summarizes the progress of MS measurement technology for hydrogen isotope abundance in China, focusing on our lab's research program and technical status. An analyzing method has been introduced for accurate measurement of tritium abundance in the H.D.T system by low resolution MAT-253 MS. The quotient of compression ratio coefficient is determined by building up equipment for laboratory-scale preparation of secondary standard gases and by considering the difference in sensitivity between hydrogen isotopes. The results show that the measured value is reproducible within the relative error range of 0.8% for gas samples of different tritium abundance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.4022-4029
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• 2022

We investigated the possibility of using graphene for control of hydrogen isotopes by exploring adsorption, reflection, and penetration of hydrogen isotopes on graphene using molecular dynamics. Reflection is the dominant interaction when hydrogen isotopes have low incident energy. Adsorption rates increase with increasing incident energy until 5 eV is reached. After 5 eV, adsorption rates decrease as incident energy increases. At incident energies greater than 5 eV, adsorption rates increase with the number of graphene layers. At low incident energies (<1 eV), no isotopic effects on interactions are observed since the predominant interaction is derived from the force of π electrons. Between 1 eV and 50 eV, heavier isotopes exhibit higher adsorption rates and lower reflection rates than lighter isotopes, due to the greater momentum of heavier isotopes. Adsorption rates are consistently higher when the incident angle of the impacting atoms is smaller between 0.5 eV and 5 eV. At higher energies (>5 eV), larger incident angles lead to higher reflection and lower penetration rates. At high incident energies (>5 eV), crumpled graphene has higher adsorption and lower penetration rates than wrinkled or unwrinkled graphene. The results obtained in this research study will be used to develop novel nanomaterials that can be employed for tritium control.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2016

It is necessary to store and supply hydrogen isotopes for Tokamak operation. A storage and delivery system (SDS) is used for storing hydrogen isotopes as a metal hydride form. We designed and fabricated a depleted uranium (DU) bed to store hydrogen isotopes. The rapid storage of hydrogen isotopes is very important not only for safety reasons but also for the economic design and operation of the SDS. The delivery rate at the desorption temperatures without the operation of a dry pump was analyzed in comparison with that with the operation of the dry pump. The effect of the initial desorption temperatures on the dehydriding of the DU without the operation of the dry pump was measured. The effect of the initial desorption temperatures on the dehydriding of DU with the operation of the dry pump was also measured and analyzed. The primary pressure on the desorption temperatures without the operation of the dry pump was analyzed in comparison with that with the operation of the dry pump. The temperature gradient of the coil heater and the primary vessel was also analyzed. Our results will be used to develop pilot scale hydrogen isotope processes. It was confirmed that dehydriding of a medium-scale DU bed has enabled without the operation of the dry pump.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.81-89
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• 2019

This study deals with a process for recovering hydrogen isotopes from fusion exhaust gas. The goal of this process is to remove impurities, maximally recover only pure hydrogen isotopes. Experiments using hydrogen and deuterium were conducted to confirm the possibility of the recovery of hydrogen isotopes. In the exhaust gas containing H₂, impurities was removed in the membrane process, and only pure H₂ was recovered. And the H₂ in the exhaust gas of the He-GDC(Glow Discharge Cleaning) process was recovered using a cryogenic adsorption process. In addition, HAZOP analysis was performed for qualitative risk assessment. For scenario analysis, the damage prediction ALOHA program was used to calculate the range of influence. Finally measures were sought to improve safety.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.163-168
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• 2016

Korea has been developing nuclear fusion fuel storage and delivery system (SDS) technologies including a basic scientific study on hydrogen storage. To develop nuclear fusion technology, it is necessary to store and supply hydrogen isotopes needed for Tokamak operation. SDS is used for storing hydrogen isotopes as a metal hydride form. The rapid hydriding of tritium is very important not only for safety reasons but also for the economic design and operation of the SDS. In this study, we designed and fabricated a medium-scale getter bed of depleted uranium (DU). The hydriding of DU has been measured by varying the initial temperature ($100-300^{\circ}C$) of the DU getter bed to investigate the influence of the cooling temperature. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of a helium blanket on the hydriding performance with 0 - 12% helium content in hydrogen.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.402-408
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• 2015

In D-T fusion reaction, $D_2$ (duterium) and $T_2$(tritium) are used as fuel gas. The exhaust gas of nuclear fusion includes hydrogen isotopes $Q_2$ (Q means H, D or T), tritiated components ($CQ_4$ and $Q_2O$), CO, $CO_2$, etc. All of hydrogen isotopes should be recovered before released to the atmosphere. This study focused on the recovery of hydrogen isotopes from $CQ_4$ and $Q_2O$. Two kinds of experiments were conducted to investigate the catalytic reaction characteristics of SMR (Steam Methane Reforming) and WGS (Water Gas Shift) reactions using Pt catalyst. First test was performed to convert $CH_4$ into $H_2$ using 6% $CH_4$, 6% CO/Ar feed gas. In the other test, 100% CO gas was used to convert $H_2O$ into $H_2$ at various reaction conditions (reaction temperature, S/C ratio, GHSV). As a result of the first test, $CH_4$ and CO conversion were 41.6%, 57.8% respectively at $600^{\circ}C$, S/C ratio 3, GHSV $2000hr^{-1}$. And CO conversion was 72% at $400^{\circ}C$, S/C ratio 0.95, GHSV $333hr^{-1}$ in the second test.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.128-135
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• 2013

The nuclear fuel cycle plant is composed of various subsystems such as a fuel storage and delivery system (SDS), a tokamak exhaust processing system, a hydrogen isotope separation system, and a tritium plant analytical system. Korea is sharing in the construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) fuel cycle plant with the EU, Japan, and the US, and is responsible for the development and supply of the SDS. Hydrogen isotopes are the main fuel for nuclear fusion reactors. Metal hydrides offer a safe and convenient method for hydrogen isotope storage. The storage of hydrogen isotopes is carried out by absorption and desorption in a metal hydride bed. These reactions require heat removal and supply respectively. Accordingly, the rapid storage and delivery of hydrogen isotopes are enabled by a rapid cooling and heating of the metal hydride bed. In this study, we designed and manufactured a vertical-type hydrogen isotope storage bed, which is used to enhance the cooling performance. We present the experimental details of the cooling performances of the bed using various cooling parameters. We also present the modeling results to estimate the heat transport phenomena. We compared the cooling performance of the bed by testing different cooling modes, such as an isolation mode, a natural convection mode, and an outer jacket helium circulation mode. We found that helium circulation mode is the most effective which was confirmed in our model calculations. Thus we can expect a more efficient bed design by employing a forced helium circulation method for new beds.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.339-345
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• 2016

Stable water vapor isotopes have been utilized as a tracer for studying atmospheric global circulations, climate change and paleoclimate with ice cores. Recently, since laser spectroscopy has been available, water vapor isotopes can be measured more precisely and continuously. Studies of water vapor isotopes have been conducted over the world, but it is the early stage in south Korea. For vapor isotopes study, a cryogenic sampling device for water vapor isotopes has been developed. The cryogenic sampling device consists of the dewar bottle, filled with extremely low temperature material and impinger connected with a vacuum pump. Impinger stays put in the dewar bottle to change the water vapor which passes through the inside of impinger into the solid phase as ice. The fact that water vapor has not sampled completely leads to isotopic fractionation in the impinger. To minimize the isotopic fractionation during sampling water vapor, we have tested the method using a serial connection with two sets of impinger device in the laboratory. We trapped 98.02% of water vapor in the first trap and the isotopic difference of the trapped water vapor between two impinger were about 20‰ and 6‰ for hydrogen and oxygen, respectively. Considering the amount of water vapor trapped in each impinger, the isotopic differences for hydrogen and oxygen were 0.33‰ and 0.06‰, respectively, which is significantly smaller than the precision of isotopic measurements. This work can conclude that there is no significant fractionation during water vapor trapping.