Pilot plant development for adsorptive krypton separation from dissolver off-gas

In view of hot cell application a separation process was investigated for the retention of Kr-85 from gaseous effluents. In the flow sheet only adsorption beds are applied. The most efficient process scheme is adsorption of the noble gas on activated charcoal and thereafter separation of the coadsorbed gas species like N2, O2, Xe and CO2 from the krypton by gas chromatography. Adsorption is at normal pressure and low temperatures of up to -1600C, whereas desorption is at elevated temperatures and under helium purge. Influences on the process operation like off-gas composition, adsorption temperatures and adsorbent are experimentally investigated, as well as the behavior of trace impurities in the adsorption columns. On the basis of pilot plant operation the main components for a full scale facility are being designed