Combustion of hydrogen from the ITER Water Detritiation System

In nuclear fusion technology, as it is applied in the fusion reactor ITER, tritium is used as fuel to promote deuterium - tritium fusion reactions. As a result of tritium handling, considerable amounts of tritiated water are produced in the different subsystems of the reactor. Therefore, the ITER Tritium Plant will be equipped with a Water Detritiation System for the recovery of tritium from water. Tritium will be recovered as fuel and its release to the environment has to be minimized. During the operation of the ITER Water Detritiation System up to 150 m3/h hydrogen will be produced. Tritium is removed from the hydrogen stream down to an environmentally compatible concentration. The hydrogen can not be further used; therefore it is intended to dispose of it by a simple, safe and proven process. This paper presents a study of different process options: a burner with combustion chamber, catalytic combustion in a conventional catalyst bed, catalytic combustion in a passive autocatalytic recombiner and catalytic combustion in a microchannel reactor. The options are compared under the aspects of safety, investment costs and costs of operation and maintenance. A proposal for ITER will be presented.