Development of electrolytic reactor for processing of gaseous tritiated compounds

Plasma exhaust processing systems that recover tritium from the mixture of gaseous tritiated compounds are proposed and being developed for application to the fusion reactor fuel cycle. For the conversion of tritium in water and hydrocarbon to elemental hydrogen form, an electrochemical device, an electrolytic reactor has been developed. Some open-ended tubes made of sintered stabilized zirconia ceramic with porous Pt electrode calcined on the inner and the outer surface were made by various techniques. Electrode materials that had better activity for the desired reactions were also investigated and a composite of platinum paste and zirconia was selected. The experiments with mixtures of water vapor and methane justified this concept of reactor with a maximum conversion efficiency higher than 99.9% over a wide range of mixtures. A prototype reactor was made, and extended operation with simulated plasma exhaust is planned with it.