Issue
Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering,
Vol.21, No.3, 562-566, 2004
Manufacturing Process of Self-Luminous Glass Tube (SLGT) Utilizing Tritium Gas: Design of Tritium Handling Facilities
Tritium, the essential material of self-luminous glass tube (SLGT), is a β-ray emitting radioactive hydrogen isotope that requires a special handling facility. The design basis of a tritium handling facility is to minimize the operator’s exposure by tritium uptake and the emission of tritium to the environment. To fulfill the requirements, major tritium handling components are located in the secondary containment such as glove boxes (GBs) and/or fume hoods. Besides a tritium recovery system (TRS) and a tritium monitoring system are included in this facilities. To prevent both tritium release out to the room and air in-leakage into the GB, the GB is designed to maintain equal or slightly lower pressure than room atmosphere. TRS is connected to the GB and process loop (PL) to minimize the release of tritium as well as to remove moisture and oxygen in the glove box. TRS is composed of a molecular sieve adsorption bed (MS bed), a nickel catalyst bed, a metal getter, tritium monitors, and a circulation pump. TRS components are regenerated if needed and tritium is recovered for reuse.
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