International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol.42, No.49, 29300-29309, 2017
Adsorption kinetics on the recovery of hydrogen isotopes from helium using palladium particle bed
The recovery and separation of hydrogen isotopes from helium purge gas is one of the critical steps in nuclear fusion based fuel cycle. In the present study, the adsorption kinetics of hydrogen and deuterium from helium using palladium particle bed is generated at different temperatures varying from 30 degrees C to 150 degrees C in a recirculating packed bed batch adsorption system. The system is modeled as a combination of packed bed adsorber and a mixing vessel connected in closed loop. The overall mass transfer coefficient is estimated at different temperatures by minimizing the error between the simulated results and the experimental data. The apparent activation energy is estimated for both the hydrogen isotopes using Arrhenius plot. Based on the estimated values of apparent activation energies, it is concluded that the overall adsorption rate is limited by internal diffusion for both hydrogen and deuterium. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Recovery and separation;Hydrogen isotopes;Hydrogen/deuterium adsorption;Palladium;Simulation and modeling;Helium Purge System (HPS)