Evaluation of oxidation efficiency of hydrophobic palladium catalyst for H monitoring in radioactive gaseous waste

Furutani, Misa ; Kometani, Tatsunari; Nakagawa, Masahiro ; Ueno, Yumi ; Sato, Junya ; Iwai, Yasunori*

Herein, an oxidation catalyst was introduced after heating it to 600C to oxidize tritium gas (HT) existing in exhaust into tritiated water vapor (HTO). This study aims to establish a safer H monitoring system by lowering the heating temperature required for the catalyst. In these experiments, which were conducted in the Nuclear Science Research Institute, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, cupric oxide, hydrophobic palladium/silicon dioxide (Pd/SiO), and platinum/aluminum oxide (Pt/AlO) catalysts were ventilated using standard hydrogen gas. After comparing the oxidation efficiency of each catalyst at different temperatures, we found that the hydrophobic Pd/SiO and Pt/AlO catalysts could oxidize HT into HTO at 25C.