Enhancement of tritium isotope separation by using packings packed with materials coated with adsorption

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14281
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Nuclear fusion studies
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Fukada Satoshi 九州大学, 総合理工学研究院, 教授 (50117230)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: トリチウム / 蒸留 / 吸着 / 同位体分離係数 / 同位体交換 / ヒートポンプ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We performed isotope separation using water distillation towers packed with materials coated with adsorptive zeolite under reduced pressure to detritiate radioactive tritium water. The method had defects of lower isotope separation factor although distillation is preferable for detritiation of a large amount of water because of no use of catalytic materials, Therefore, it needs a large amount of energy to detritiate it for applications to tritium processing. In the present study, we propose a new isotope separation method for deuterium or tritium using water distillation towers packed with materials coated with zeolite showing higher separation factor in meso-porous part. We have performed isotope separation experiment using radioactive tritium or deuterium, and results are presented in English journals after severe reviewing and also in several international patents. Our results will be helpful for detritiation processes in the future fusion reactor also in Fukushima 1F wastewater.

Free Research Field

核融合学トリチウム理工学