Alternatives for metal hydride storage bed heating and cooling

摘要

The reaction of hydrogen isotopes with the storage bed hydride material is exothermic during absorption and endothermic during desorption. Therefore, storage bed operation requires a cooling system to remove heat during absorption, and a heating system to add the heat needed for desorption. Three storage bed designs and their associated methods of heating and cooling and accountability are presented within. The first design is the current RTF (Replacement Tritium Facility) nitrogen heating and cooling system. The second design uses natural convection cooling with ambient glove box nitrogen and electrical resistance for heating. This design is referred to as the Naturally Cooled/Electrically Heated (NCEH) design. The third design uses forced convection cooling with ambient glove box nitrogen and electrical resistance for heating. The design is referred to as the Forced Convection Cooled/Electrically Heated (FCCEH) design. In this report the operation, storage bed design, and equipment required for heating, cooling, and accountability of each design are described. The advantages and disadvantages of each design are listed and discussed. Based on the information presented within, it is recommended that the NCEH design be selected for further development.