Matsumoto Takahiro, Sakuragawa Chiyori, Mu Tong, Tachibana Koki, Tomita Makoto, Sugimoto Hidehiko
Graduate School of Design and Architecture, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, 464-0083, Japan.
Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, 464-0083, Japan.
Heliyon. 2024 Jul 3;10(15):e33956. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33956. eCollection 2024 Aug 15.
Developing a cost-effective method for separating and concentrating tritium water (HTO) from light water (HO) without consuming additional energy is crucial for achieving reliable and safe nuclear fission and fusion energy technologies. However, this presents a significant challenge because of the difficulties in obtaining basic information, such as the chemical and physical properties of HTO molecules. Here, we investigate the isotope exchange reaction (IER) between HTO molecules in HO solution and HO vapor in the atmosphere. The reduction and purification rates of HTO-containing water were measured by varying the system conditions, such as temperature (20-50 °C) and humidity (50 %-90 %), under an equilibrium state between the liquid phase (water) and vapor phase (air). Our findings indicate that the concentration of HTO in the solution can be significantly reduced by increasing HO vapor in the atmosphere. This result can be quantitatively explained by considering the entropy of mixing between the solution and vapor phases. The results obtained here provide both basic understanding on the exchange process between liquid- and vapor-water molecules and a passive technology for treating HTO-containing water.
开发一种经济高效的方法，在不消耗额外能量的情况下从轻水（H₂O）中分离并浓缩氚水（HTO），对于实现可靠且安全的核裂变和核聚变能源技术至关重要。然而，由于难以获取诸如HTO分子的化学和物理性质等基础信息，这带来了重大挑战。在此，我们研究了H₂O溶液中的HTO分子与大气中的H₂O蒸汽之间的同位素交换反应（IER）。在液相（水）和气相（空气）的平衡状态下，通过改变系统条件，如温度（20 - 50°C）和湿度（50% - 90%），测量了含HTO水的还原和净化速率。我们的研究结果表明，通过增加大气中的H₂O蒸汽，可以显著降低溶液中HTO的浓度。考虑到溶液和气相之间的混合熵，可以对这一结果进行定量解释。此处获得的结果既提供了对液态水和气态水分子之间交换过程的基本理解，也提供了一种处理含HTO水的被动技术。
