Numerical approach for a study of the hydrogen isotopes separation by palladium alloy membranes

In this work, a simple and stable method is proposed to design a hydrogen permeator operating with Pd/Ag membranes in countercurrent or cocurrent mode. The method is based on an iterative calculation that requires as input data a tentative value of the outlet permeate composition. The isotopic competition effect in the permeation process has been included in the flux formula. The model supported by a computer code has been used to study the hydrogen isotopes extraction from the gas stream arising from a tritiated water gas shift reactor under conditions relevant to a solid breeding blanket of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) size. The model and the code have also been tested with experimental data reported in the open literature.