A system for the removal of tritium from exhaust air

✍ Scribed by I. Heertje; G. K. Koch; M. R. M. Geheniau

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1972
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 105 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-2135
• DOI: 10.1002/jlcr.2590080112

✦ Synopsis

To prevent unpermissible amounts of radioactivity in the exhaust of a radio isotope laboratory high efficiency filters can be used. However, tritium gas is not retained by these filters. Therefore other methods must be applied.

A system has been developed in which hydrogen gas from glove boxes is oxidized by a Deoxo unit and most of the activity of the water is removed by spray scrubbers. Finally the air is injected into the central exhaust shaft of the laboratory.

METHOD

In the Deoxo unit (ex Engelhard Industries. Ltd., type D 200/100) hydrogen is converted into water over a palladium catalyst. The concentration of hydrogen in the gas stream is reduced by the Deolto purifier to 1 ppm or less. T o avoid the escape of very small amounts of tritium gas, hydrogen gas is added to the air stream from the glove boxes (content 0.5 m ; flow 4 . 5 m /h) in a concentration of 1%. The gas is added from a cylinder with a flaw controller. For good performance the flow in the unit should not exceed 5 m /h. The temperature of the Deoxo unit during operntion is well above 100°C.