Investigation on palladium membrane separators cascaded for batch hydrogen isotope separation

A primary design of a batch hydrogen isotope separation system based on Palladium Membrane Separators Connected in Series (PMSCS) was presented. Mathematic models for the separation effect evaluation of this kind of system have been put forward. Relationships between the deuterium concentrations in product and extraction rate are given using this model for the separation systems with different stages. Calculation results based on the model and separation factors measured in our previous work show that the more the number of the stages of the system, the better the separation effect. A product with deuterium concentration of 92% and a raffinate with protium concentration of 99.95% can be obtained respectively by using a five stages separation system if the system is feed with of 50%H-50%D mixture. This kind of hydrogen isotope separation system has advantages such as lower tritium inventory, more compacted structure and smaller room occupancy compared with TCAP. The PMSC is attractive for hydrogen isotope separation with a batch operation mode. (authors)