Tritium Extraction from Liquid Blankets of Fusion Reactors via Membrane Gas–Liquid Contactors

The exploitation of fusion energy in tokamak reactors relies on efficient and reliable tritium management. The tritium needed to sustain the deuterium–tritium fusion reaction is produced in the Li-based blanket surrounding the plasma chamber, and, therefore, the effective extraction and purification of the tritium bred in the Li-blankets is needed to guarantee the tritium self-sufficiency of future fusion plants. This work introduces a new technology for the extraction of tritium from the Pb–Li eutectic alloy used in liquid blankets. Process units based on the concept of Membrane Gas–Liquid Contactor (MGLC) have been studied for the extraction of tritium from the Pb–Li in the Water Cooled Lithium Lead blankets of the DEMO reactor. MGLC units have been preliminarily designed and then compared in terms of the permeation areas and sizes with the tritium extraction technologies presently under study, namely the Permeator Against Vacuum (PAV) and the Gas–Liquid Contactors (GLCs). The results of this study show that the DEMO WCLL tritium extraction systems using MGLC require smaller permeation areas and quicker permeation kinetics than those based on PAV (Permeator Against Vacuum) devices. Accordingly, the MGLC extraction unit exhibits volumes smaller than those of both PAV and GLC.