No.7（2012）8.Experimental multi stage solid polymer electrolysis cells for tritium enrichment

Masaaki Saito, Hiroshi Imaizumi, Shunji Yunoki, Yoshiyasu Nagakawa

  Hydrogen ions accompany water from the anode to the cathode in solid polymer electrolysis for tritium water enrichment. The conventional enrichment apparatus has a flow pass between the anode and the cathode to mix water continuously. When the flow pass is closed, the cathode shows constant tritium enrichment, while the anode does not show any tritium enrichment at all. In this study, a new system was assembled from eight-stage electrolytic cells and the tritium enrichment was examined. The results confirmed that the theoretical and multi-stage enrichment worked as expected, i.e. an enrichment factor of 1.2 per one stage cell and 4.7 for the eight stage cells.

Keywords
Tritium, Heavy Water, Enrichment, Multi Stage Cells, Solid Polymer Electrolysis

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