Zeolite membrane cascade for tritium extraction and recovery systems

Membrane separation by zeolite membranes has been proposed as a pre-concentration stage for the tritium extraction from the purge helium of the breeding blanket combined with a final recovery by the catalytic membrane reactor PERMCAT. This fully continuous operation improves the tritium management in fusion machines, minimizing the tritium inventory. For the first time, the permeation measurements for H₂ - He mixtures through a MFI-alumina hollow fibre membrane has been measured for different compositions (0.1 - 20% H₂) and temperatures. Such a highly permeable membrane, although it shows a limited selectivity, appears attractive for tritium recovery in the blanket. This will imply its operation in a membrane cascade, for which simulation work is ongoing. Mathematically the process is modeled using mass balance equations that can be transformed into the matrix form and solved iteratively assuming a permeate concentration on the first step of iteration, until the separation requirements are fulfilled