Design and evaluation of gaseous tritium recovery system using commercially available membrane type dehumidifier

In order to realize the planned deuterium plasma experiments using the Large Helical Device, the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) is planning to install a system for tritium recovery from exhaust gas. While adopting typical tritium recovery systems, NIFS has also made plans for the development of a compact reduced-waste recovery system by applying a membrane type dehumidifier. A commercially available membrane dehumidifier was evaluated experimentally for this purpose with the results indicating that such a membrane is feasible for practical application. A small-scale test apparatus having a capacity 1/10 (30 m3(NTP)/h) that of the actual tritium recovery system with the same flow control system was evaluated under actual operating conditions, and the necessary performance for design and operation of the actual system was elucidated. (author)