Experimental assessment of a catalytic hydrogen oxidation system for the off-gas processing of the ITER WDS

During normal operation of the ITER Water Detritiation System (WDS) and Isotope Separation System (ISS) large amounts of hydrogen isotopes containing mostly hydrogen and deuterium with some traces of tritium, will be produced and potentially released into the environment. Therefore an investigation has been carried out to handle the off gas safely. The catalytic oxidation of hydrogen is a conventional and reliable method, which has been selected to be tested. Thus, having discarded any hazards related to hydrogen explosion, the exhaust gases could be safely released into the environment. A scaled prototype oxidation reactor has been installed and commissioned at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) to investigate the selected method. This paper will present several simulation approaches for the main components of the oxidation system and compare them with experimental data.