Performance Restoration of a Tritium-Aged LaNi<sub>4.25</sub>Al<sub>0.75</sub> Sample

Staack, G. C.; James, David W.

doi:10.1080/15361055.2020.1718839

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Essentially all the gas from a tritium-aged sample had been released by 600 °C. Later, Staack and James [5] showed that heating a tritium-aged LANA.75 sample to 450 °C moderately restored the performance while heating the sample to 600 °C significantly improved the performance. This improvement between 450 and 600 °C was likely due to the release of the second He-3 peak.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SR19021 Tritium Aging of Regenerated LANA.75 (Final Project Report)

Reynolds¹

2021

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The Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE) has used the metal hydride LaNi4.25Al0.75 (LANA.75) in the Tritium Facilities for over two decades. LANA.75 beds store significant quantities of tritium but have a limited service life due to the radiolytic decay of tritium to He-3 within the metal matrix. It has been shown that heating tritium-aged LANA.75 under vacuum can reverse tritium aging effects, eliminating the heel of trapped hydrogen, and restoring the reversible capacity. Additional investigation is needed to ensure there are no unexpected changes to the hydride before this restoration technique is employed in full scale beds in the Tritium Facilities.This project was to be comprised of three distinct scopes: obtain tritium aging data on the sample regenerated in 2018, regenerate a tritium-aged sample at 600 °C, and perform thermal stability testing on a non-tritiated sample. Isotherms were collected on the previously regenerated sample after approximately two years of tritium aging. Isotherms were collected at 80, 100, and 120 °C. As expected, there was a decrease in the plateau pressure, an increase in plateau slope, and a portion of the "heel" of tritium trapped in the metal had been reestablished. Unexpectedly, it appeared that the plateau had shortened at the higher tritium to metal ratios as well. This is typically seen in older samples.The second scope, to regenerate a second tritium-aged LANA.75 sample, was not completed. A Task Technical and Quality Assurance Plan was written and approved, a high temperature test cell was fabricated, several pre-job briefs were held, and the hydride sample was passivated with air. Despite these successes, the hydride sample was not recovered from the legacy test cell. Revision vii

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%