Numerical study and experimental verification of protium permeation through Pd/Ag membranes for fusion applications

Pd/Ag membranes are one of the reference technologies for the fuel cycle of deuterium-tritium fusion machines. This technology is proposed to be implemented in tritium recovery systems, due to their exclusive selectivity towards molecular hydrogen isotopes. For instance, these membranes are proposed to process and separate Q 2 (Q = H, D, T) species from impurities (e.g., inert gases) coming from the plasma exhaust of ITER and also foreseen for DEMO. In view of up-scaling this technology to a DEMO-relevant case, a one-dimensional simulation code was developed to first predict H 2 permeation efficiencies. In this contribution, a numerical code which computes the permeation efficiency of protium through Pd/Ag membranes at different operating conditions and tubular geometries is presented. A good agreement between the numerical outcomes and actual experimental results obtained at ENEA is highlighted and discussed.