(582bg) Simulation of Adiabatic Trickle Bed Reactor for Liquid Phase Catalytic Exchange of Hydrogen Isotopes

Liquid phase catalytic exchange column is the main facility in catalytic isotopic exchange process between hydrogen and water, which is prospective during heavy water upgrading for fission reactor and waste water treatment for fusion reactor. An adiabatically and counter-currently operated trickle bed reactor packed with mixture of platinum /styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer catalysts and Dixon rings for deuterium removal from hydrogen is simulated and compared with the reactor operated at non-adiabatic condition. It is found that adiabatic operation improves gas-liquid mass transfer of HDO while decreases catalytic exchange rate of gas phase because of less sufficient gas humidification. Gas-liquid transfer of HDO and catalytic exchange of gas phase limit the overall isotopic exchange sequentially from bottom to top of the reactor. Actually, adiabatic operation promotes overall isotopic exchange in the reactor when gas-liquid mass transfer of HDO dominates more on deuterium removal. Non-adiabatic operation is therefore unnecessary for industrial reactor. Finally, optimal operation conditions are studied by developed model.