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US 10,486,969 B2Granted
Balanced closed loop continuous extraction process for hydrogen isotopes
AssigneeKurion, Inc.
InventorsChristopher Robert Shmayda, Robert D. Gallagher
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for tritium separation systems using a mixed bed catalytic exchange process in a Liquid Phase Catalytic Exchange/Closed Loop Continuous Process (LPCE/CLCP) system, that operates as a low temperature and low pressure continuous balanced process, designed to rapidly, economically and safely extract and isolate isotope specific products without generating unwanted products in the form of new waste streams.
Claims20
A closed loop continuous hydrogen isotope extraction system using a steady state cyclical dual column extraction, comprising:
- a first liquid phase catalytic exchange column to receive a mixture of clean hydrogen gas and contaminated feed water comprising at least one hydrogen isotope in the form of tritium, wherein the liquid phase catalytic exchange column includes one or more of a first hydrophobic catalyst operative to facilitate the exchange of the clean hydrogen gas with the hydrogen isotope in the feed water resulting in the generation of the hydrogen isotope as a gas and de-tritiated water as a liquid in the first catalytic exchange column;
- a second liquid phase catalytic exchange column to receive a mixture of gas generated from the first liquid phase catalytic exchange column containing the hydrogen isotope and de-tritiated water generated by the first liquid phase catalytic exchange column, wherein the second liquid phase catalytic exchange column includes a second hydrophobic catalyst operative to facilitate the exchange of the gas containing the hydrogen isotope and the de-tritiated water resulting in the generation and release of the hydrogen as clean hydrogen gas and contaminated water comprising at least one hydrogen isotope in the form of tritium, and wherein the second hydrophobic catalyst is further operative to process at least one of larger and smaller volumes of material than the first hydrophobic catalyst;
- a pump for establishing and maintaining a circulating profile through the first and second liquid phase catalytic exchange columns;
- a first valve to at least one of continuously and periodically introduce into the steady state cyclical dual column process additional contaminated feed water, wherein the additional feed water is introduced into the circulating profile of the first liquid phase catalytic exchange column;
- a second valve configured to at least one of continuously and periodically collect from the steady state cyclical dual column process at least one of an enriched fraction from the circulating profile and a clean fraction from the circulating profile;
- a first flow detector for monitoring the flow rate of the introduced contaminated feed over time, and a second flow detector for monitoring the flow rate of the at least one of collected enriched fraction and collected clean fraction, wherein the difference in fractions results in at least one of:
- (a) a steady state operation when the fractions introduced and fractions collected are the same,
- (b) a reduction in system concentration when the fractions introduced are less than the fractions collected, and
- (c) an increase in system concentration when the fractions introduced are more than the fractions collected.
6 more elements
A closed loop continuous hydrogen isotope extraction method using a steady state cyclical dual column extraction, including:
- receiving a mixture of clean hydrogen gas and contaminated feed water comprising at least one hydrogen isotope in the form of tritium in a first liquid phase catalytic exchange column, wherein the liquid phase catalytic exchange column includes one or more of a first hydrophobic catalyst operative to facilitate the exchange of the clean hydrogen gas with the hydrogen isotope in the feed water resulting in the generation of the hydrogen isotope as a gas and de-tritiated water as a liquid in the first catalytic exchange column;
- receiving a mixture of gas generated from the first liquid phase catalytic exchange column containing the hydrogen isotope and de-tritiated water generated by the first liquid phase catalytic exchange column in a second liquid phase catalytic exchange column, wherein the second liquid phase catalytic exchange column includes a second hydrophobic catalyst operative to facilitate the exchange of the gas containing the hydrogen isotope and the de-tritiated water resulting in the generation and release of the hydrogen as clean hydrogen gas and contaminated water comprising at least one hydrogen isotope in the form of tritium, and wherein the second hydrophobic catalyst is further operative to process at least one of larger and smaller volumes of material than the first hydrophobic catalyst;
- using a pump for establishing and maintaining a circulating profile through the first and second liquid phase catalytic exchange columns;
- using a first valve to at least one of continuously and periodically introduce into the steady state cyclical dual column process additional contaminated feed water, wherein the additional feed water is introduced into the circulating profile of the first liquid phase catalytic exchange column;
- using a second valve to at least one of continuously and periodically collect from the steady state cyclical dual column process at least one of an enriched fraction from the circulating profile and a clean fraction from the circulating profile;
- using a first flow detector for monitoring the flow rate of the introduced contaminated feed over time, and a second flow detector for monitoring the flow rate of the at least one of collected enriched fraction and collected clean fraction, wherein the difference in fractions results in at least one of:
- (a) a steady state operation when the fractions introduced and fractions collected are the same,
- (b) a reduction in system concentration when the fractions introduced are less than the fractions collected, and
- (c) an increase in system concentration when the fractions introduced are more than the fractions collected.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.