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Adsorption Characteristics of Water Vapor on Zeolitic Materials for Honeycomb-Type Adsorbent

Takaaki WAJIMA, Kenzo MUNAKATA, Toshiharu TAKEISHI¹⁾, Keisuke HARA, Kouhei WADA, Kenichi KATEKARI¹⁾, Keita INOUE¹⁾, Yohei SHINOZAKI¹⁾, Kazuhiko MOCHIZUKI¹⁾, Masahiro TANAKA²⁾ and Tatsuhiko UDA²⁾

Faculty of Engineering and Resource Sciences, Akita University, 1-1 Tegata-gauen-cho, Akita 010-8502, Japan

1)

Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Science, Kyushu University, 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan

2)

National Institute for Fusion Science, 322-6 Oroshi-cho, Toki 509-5292, Japan

(Received 6 December 2010 / Accepted 18 February 2011 / Published 1 July 2011)

Abstract

Tritium release in nuclear fusion power plants must be recovered as efficiently as possible in air cleanup system (ACS). In conventional ACS, the tritium gas is oxidized by catalysts, and then tritiated water vapor is collected by adsorbents, whereas which has a problem related to large ventilation force required to overcome high pressure drop in catalyst and adsorbent beds. Honeycomb-type catalyst and adsorbent offer a useful advantage in terms of their low-pressure drop, and honeycomb-type adsorbent using sepiolite-binder is feasible ability for application of ACS. In this study, we examined adsorption characteristics of water vapor on the building material, zeolitic materials using sepiolite-binder, for honeycomb-type adsorbent by changing temperature and concentration of water vapor, in comparison with those for conventional pebble-type adsorbent, and the experimental data were evaluated using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Each type of adsorbent includes mainly zeolite-4A. Adsorption capacity of zeolitic materials for both adsorbents gradually decreased with decreasing partial pressure of water or increasing temperature, and experimental data are found to fit Langmuir than Freundlich. The maximum adsorption capacity of water vapor on zeolitic material for honeycomb-type adsorbent, which was calculated by Langmuir isotherm model, is comparable to that for pebble-type adsorbent, and heat of water adsorption on zeolitic material for honeycomb-type adsorbent was higher than that for pebble-type adsorbent. These results indicate that honeycomb-type adsorbent using sepiolite-binder is applicable to ACS.

Copyright (c) 2011 The Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research

Keywords

tritium safety, air cleanup system, honeycomb-type adsorbent, pebble-type adsorbent, water vapor, nuclear fusion plant

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.6.2405031

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This paper may be cited as follows:

Takaaki WAJIMA, Kenzo MUNAKATA, Toshiharu TAKEISHI, Keisuke HARA, Kouhei WADA, Kenichi KATEKARI, Keita INOUE, Yohei SHINOZAKI, Kazuhiko MOCHIZUKI, Masahiro TANAKA and Tatsuhiko UDA, Plasma Fusion Res. 6, 2405031 (2011).