(532t) Electromagnetic Catalysis for Fusion Pump Oil Detritiation

The unrecycled disposal of tritiated oils from fusion energy plants would constitute a serious environmental challenge. It has been found that up to 95% of tritiated oils is bound as hydrocarbon oxidation products such as carboxylic acids, alcohols etc. Therefore, our goal is to develop a process to catalytically detritiate pump oils, and furthermore, to do so not with a thermal process but by a much more efficient electromagnetic one. We seek to understand how different metals, supports and different amount of oxygen groups on supports could contribute to electromagnetic heating and catalysis of oil species detritiation.

Prior to catalyst synthesis, the point of zero charge (PZC) of the carbon support, which correlates with the relative amount of surface oxygen is modified by treatment in nitric acid of varying concentration, depending on the degree of surface oxygen needed. Three PZC categories (PZC 2.0, 6.7 and 9.0) of Ketjen black carbon support were utilized with the hypothesis that the oxygen groups could contribute to different extent of tritiated species oxidation. Cationic precursors were used for the deposition of metals on low PZC supports while anionic precursors were utilized for high PZC support. We have also explored the use of bimetallic PtNi catalysts on core-shell composite materials of silica-alumina coated on ketjen black and 10-mesh graphite support. Initial results show well dispersed alloys which could contribute to EM heating.

These materials will be used for the detritiation of pump oil while comparing the electromagnetically heated catalytic process to a thermocatalytic one.