Method for treating gaseous effluents emitted from a nuclear reactor
AssigneeDallas T. Pence
InventorDallas T. Pence
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Abstract
A method is disclosed herein for treating the gaseous effluents emitted from a nuclear reactor, said method being adaptable for treating either gaseous effluents produced during normal reactor operations or combustible and fission product gases released as the result of a nuclear reactor system failure. The treatment comprises sequential direction of the gaseous mixture through a multiplicity of adsorbent beds, each of said beds being preferentially adsorptive towards at least one component of said gaseous mixture, whereby to effect the desired separation by substantially either thermal-swing, cryogenic, or rapid cycle adsorption techniques.
Claims13
In a process for treating the gaseous effluent emitted from a nuclear reactor, said effluent comprising hydrogen in gaseous admixture with krypton and xenon, a method for separating the hydrogen component of said gaseous effluent, comprising the step of directing said effluent through a column having absorbent material disposed therethrough and while maintaining said effluent at no greater than about ambient temperature and at about ambient pressure, said absorbent material comprising a synthetic mordenite zeolite.
In a process for treating the gaseous effluent emitted from a nuclear reactor, said effluent comprising oxygen in gaseous admixture with krypton and xenon, a method for separating the oxygen component of said gaseous effluent, comprising the step of directing said effluent through a column having absorbent material disposed therethrough and while maintaining said effluent at not greater than about ambient temperature and at about ambient pressure, said adsorbent comprising a synthetic mordenite zeolite.
A method for treating gaseous effluents emitted from a nuclear reactor, comprising sequentially:
- (a) directing said effluents through an adsorbent bed adsorptive to water vapor and carbon dioxide, but not to xenon and krypton, forward purging said bed with purge gas in the direction of effluents flow, raising the temperature of said bed sufficiently to desorb the absorbed water vapor and carbon dioxide, and back purging said bed with heated purge gas whereby to remove from the bed the desorbed water vapor and carbon dioxide;
- (b) removing iodine from the resulting water-and-carbon dioxide-free effluent;
- and
- (c) directing the resulting effluent at not greater than about ambient temperature and at about ambient pressure through an absorbent bed comprising synthetic mordenite zeolite having an affinity for absorbing xenon and krypton which is greater than its affinity for adsorbing hydrogen and oxygen, forward purging said bed with purge gas in the direction of effluent flow to remove residual hydrogen and oxygen from said bed, and then back purging said bed with purge gas whereby to remove xenon and krypton from said bed.
In a process for treating the gaseous effluent emitted from a nuclear reactor, said effluent comprising hydrogen in gaseous admixture with krypton and xenon, a method for separating the hydrogen component of said gaseous effluent, comprising the step of directing said effluent through a column having hydrogen-form synthetic mordenite zeolite disposed therethrough and while maintaining said effluent at no greater than about ambient temperature and at about ambient pressure.
In a process for treating the gaseous effluent emitted from a nuclear reactor, said effluent comprising hydrogen and oxygen in gaseous admixture with krypton and xenon, a method for simultaneously separating the oxygen and hydrogen components from said gaseous effluent, comprising the step of directing said effluent through a column having adsorbent material disposed therethrough and while maintaining said effluent at no greater than at about ambient temperature and at about ambient pressure, said adsorbent material comprising hydrogen-form synthetic mordenite zeolite.
A method for treating gaseous effluents emitted from a nuclear reactor, comprising sequentially:
- (a) directing said effluents through an adsorbent bed adsorptive to water vapor and carbon dioxide, but not to xenon and krypton, forward purging said bed with purge gas in the direction of effluents flow, raising the temperature of said bed sufficiently to desorb the absorbed water vapor and carbon dioxide, and back purging said bed with heated purge gas whereby to remove from the bed the desorbed water vapor and carbon dioxide;
- (b) removing iodine from the resulting water-and-carbon dioxide-free effluent;
- and
- (c) directing the resulting effluent at not greater than about ambient temperature and at about ambient pressure through an adsorbent bed comprising hydrogen-form synthetic mordenite zeolite having an affinity for adsorbing xenon and krypton which is greater than its affinity for adsorbing hydrogen and oxygen, forward purging said bed with purge gas in the direction of effluent flow to remove residual hydrogen and oxygen from said bed, and then back purging said bed with purge gas whereby to remove xenon and krypton from said bed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.