Research into kinetics of the process of hydrogen removal with granulated copper oxide in the oxygen-free gas environment

To ensure standard and accident-free operation of heavy liquid metal cooled (HLMC) nuclear reactors of a new generation, it is necessary to solve the issues related to their technology. One of these issues consists in the necessity to remove hydrogen from the gas volume in the HLMC circulation circuit. Hydrogen is generated in the primary circuit as a result of some technological measures aimed at hydrogen removal from the circuit, as well as in case of normal operation violations related to steam generator leaks. Hydrogen safety is one of the main reasons why it is required to remove hydrogen from the cover gas of the primary circuit of HLMC reactors. In case of a beyond-design-basis accident with primary circuit depressurization, there is a probability of air gaseous oxygen ingress into the circuit and formation of the explosive mixture. Therefore, the hydrogen concentration value in the cover gas is normalized. The specific feature of the cover gas in the HLMC reactor primary circuit consists in the fact that it does not contain any oxygen, and in view of that, any application of the currently existing methods and devices for hydrogen removal (catalytic hydrogen recombiners, igniters with an electric heater), used at the NPPs in operation, does not seem possible. As of today, the most promising method to remove hydrogen from the oxygen-free gas environment is the process of hydrogen removal (elimination) by means of a solid oxidizer with the possibility of its recovery. Various metal oxides are considered as solid oxidizers. The paper presents the technique and results of the research into kinetics of the hydrogen removal process in the oxygen-free environment by means of granulated copper oxide, that allow the conclusion to be made about the process application potential, with the use of copper oxide as a filler for a hydrogen igniter.