Catalytic oxidation of tritium in wet gas

Use of precious metal catalyst is recommended in the tritium recovery system because it can oxidize tritium at ambient temperature. The ability to operate at the ambient temperature without preheating and past cooling is a large advantage in the ease of system operation. It is observed in this study, however, that the catalytic oxidation characteristics of the precious metal catalysts are largely affected by the water vapor to such extent that almost no oxidation rate of tritium is expected in the wet gas. Effect of the water vapor on the oxidation rate is quantitatively discussed based on data obtained in this study and an emergency cleanup system from the room air with pre-adsorption bed is proposed. (author)