Engineering design of a permeator against vacuum mock-up with niobium membrane

Permeator Against Vacuum (PAV) is one of the technologies proposed for the Tritium Extraction and Removal System (TERS) of the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead Breeding Blanket (WCLL BB). The paper presents the activity aimed at the engineering design of a PAV mock-up with a niobium membrane, in order to later assemble and qualify it. Experience gained in the engineering design of the mock-up, the heating system, the instrumentation, and the vacuum line is illustrated. This experience will be useful for the preliminary design, the manufacturing and the operation of the PAV with niobium membrane for DEMO. Niobium was selected as membrane material of this mock-up because of its high permeability and for its lower cost compared to vanadium, the other candidate material for membranes. Besides, niobium has a lower tendency to oxidation than vanadium. Oxidation would reduce the hydrogen isotopes permeation flux. In this paper, the solution adopted to manufacture the PAV mock-up, a complex component with niobium and P22 parts, is illustrated. The Nb/P22 welding issues are also presented, in particular related to the compatibility of the welded joints with LiPb. In the chosen design, the LiPb flows with two passages in 16 (8 + 8) niobium “U” shaped pipes installed in a vacuum chamber and welded to a P22 plate. The U-pipes configuration was selected to minimize the welding area, the volume of the component and the membrane thickness while trying to preserve the highest possible extraction efficiency.