Evaluation of inert gas fusion- thermal conductivity (IGF-TCD) method for hydrogen and deuterium determination in zircaloy tubes

The limitation of Inert Gas Fusion (IGF) method employing thermal conductivity detection for hydrogen/deuterium determination is reported. This method does not take the differences in molecular weights and thermal conductivities of hydrogen and deuterium in calculations. Results tend to show large bias especially when large fraction of deuterium is present along with hydrogen. True concentration of hydrogen and deuterium can be evaluated by knowing the mole fraction of hydrogen and deuterium and also the ratio of their thermal conductivities. This paper describes the evaluation procedure adopted to apportion hydrogen and deuterium content determined by IGF-TCD. (author). 3 refs., 2 tabs