Abstract One of the main design drivers of the EU-DEMO fuel cycle is to avoid unnecessary hydrogen isotope separation. In the tritium plant, this implies a novel functionality for isotope rebalancing (IR) and protium removal (PR). The task of IR is to adjust the deuterium-tritium ratio by several percent gradually over time in order to establish the required fuel mixture composition before reinjection into the torus. The PR is needed to process and separate protium, which inevitably enters the system via outgassing or replacement reactions. The candidate technology for the IR/PR function is temperature swing absorption, which is based on anticyclical operation of two absorption columns with reversed isotope effects. In order to characterize the separation process, a new test rig has been designed and is currently being assembled. This paper describes the principle idea of the process, develops a model to predict the performance, and presents simulation results for a DEMO-relevant gas composition. Palladium and vanadium have been selected for the modeling. It is shown that at the end of one column tritium could be separated with 92.5% purity. At the other column, protium with 46.4% and deuterium with 44.8% purity could be removed. A subsequent parameter study showed that the ideal gas supply would be 40% of the total length of the column and that 22 was the optimal number of cycles before extraction.

中文翻译：

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用于 EU-DEMO 燃料循环中同位素再平衡和 Protium 去除的技术开发

摘要 EU-DEMO 燃料循环的主要设计驱动因素之一是避免不必要的氢同位素分离。在氚工厂中，这意味着同位素再平衡 (IR) 和氚去除 (PR) 的新功能。IR 的任务是随着时间的推移逐渐将氘氚比率调整几个百分点，以便在重新注入环面之前建立所需的燃料混合物成分。PR 需要处理和分离镨，它不可避免地通过放气或置换反应进入系统。IR/PR 功能的候选技术是变温吸收，它基于具有反向同位素效应的两个吸收柱的反循环操作。为了表征分离过程，设计了一个新的测试台，目前正在组装。本文描述了该过程的原理思想，开发了一个模型来预测性能，并提供了与 DEMO 相关的气体成分的模拟结果。已选择钯和钒进行建模。结果表明，在一根柱子的末端可以分离出纯度为 92.5% 的氚。在另一根色谱柱上，可以去除纯度为 46.4% 的氚和纯度为 44.8% 的氘。随后的参数研究表明，理想的气体供应量是色谱柱总长度的 40%，22 次是萃取前的最佳循环数。结果表明，在一根柱子的末端可以分离出纯度为 92.5% 的氚。在另一根色谱柱上，可以去除纯度为 46.4% 的氚和纯度为 44.8% 的氘。随后的参数研究表明，理想的气体供应量是色谱柱总长度的 40%，22 次是萃取前的最佳循环数。结果表明，在一根柱子的末端可以分离出纯度为 92.5% 的氚。在另一根色谱柱上，可以去除纯度为 46.4% 的氚和纯度为 44.8% 的氘。随后的参数研究表明，理想的气体供应量是色谱柱总长度的 40%，22 次是萃取前的最佳循环数。