A Study of the Consecutive Absorption/Desorption Cycles of ZrCo–H2 System

Consecutive absorption/desorption cycles of the ZrCo-H₂ system were studied to simulate the real International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) hydrogen getter system. A ZrCo getter was used in this paper instead of the depleted uranium (DU) getter material, which has been recently considered as the hydrogen getter in ITER. In a cyclic pressure-composition isotherm (PCI) measurement, the high-pressure Sievert apparatus seems impractical to describe the equilibrium state of the ZrCo-H₂ system in detail, especially for the desorption stage. This high-pressure PCI apparatus, however, shows cause and effect well, from the previous getter state to the following state in presenting hydriding/dehydriding performance. In case of the ZrCo-H₂ system or in case of the DU-H₂ system having multiple getter bed battery, a similar affection by previous getter status might be related and a similar aspect could be shown to consider further ITER design; for example, a need for control logic from PCI measurements using a high-pressure Sievert apparatus.