Fukushima Light Water Detritiation System Presentation

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Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Fukushima Light Water Detritiation System Water Distillation Option

A. Busigin, Ph.D., P.Eng. and P. Mason, P.Eng.

Presented at the 34th Tritium Focus Group Meeting on September 23-25, 2014, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 1 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Fukushima Light Water Detritiation Requirement

Cooling water cooled Condenser

Reference: Information Workshop on Contaminated Water Detritiated Water Demonstration Project RFP, Monday, April 14, 2014, Presentations DF = 104 by: Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI), International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID) Detritiated Water 499.93 m3/day 1x104 Bq/L Tritiated Water 500 m3/day 1x106 Bq/L WD Overall Mass Balance Concept

DF = Detritiation Factor EF = Enrichment Factor Heated Reboiler Tritiated Water Concentrate EF = 5942 3 3 Tritiated Water 400 m /day is accumulation rate. Assume 500 m /day capacity is Concentrate built to also process backlogged water over a number of years. 0.07 m3/day 6.9x109 Bq/L Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 2 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Water Distillation (WD) vs Combined Electrolysis & Catalytic Exchange (CECE) – Energy Cost Big Picture

Parameter Units WD CECE Comment

H/T Separation - 1.059 @ 50°C 5.017 @ 60°C CECE separation Factor for Light factor is not the Water Detritiation CECE large Separation Factor does not mean low energy consumption! only important consideration.

Boilup or kWh per kg of H2O 0.66 5 to 6 Energy of Electrolysis electrolysis is Energy for Reflux much higher than energy of boilup. COP* for Energy Energy multiplier 8 to 10 1.3 WD recycles Utilization by heat pump or With Heat Pump With Fuel Cell energy much more fuel cell efficiently. Energy demand MW(e) 25 to 40 155 to 210 WD uses much for 500 m3/day less energy. throughput Even if CECE separation factor was infinity, CECE would require 104 to 125 MW(e) power for 500 m3/day throughput – about 4 to 5 times more than WD.

*COP = coefficient of performance. For CECE the practicality of energy recovery/recycling is questionable.

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WD vs CECE – Hazards Evaluation Parameter WD CECE

Hydrogen Explosion Hazard No. Yes

Pure Oxygen Hazard No. Yes

Leakage Potential Vacuum process – leaks don’t Above atmospheric process. (during normal operation) result in emission Greater potential for tritiated hydrogen/water vapor leak Tritium Inventory Small. Falling film reboiler has Large. Electrolyser has large small inventory (less than 0.5 liquid inventory (about 16 hours hour residence time). Most of residence time), much larger system inventory is in the than WD reboiler. Electrolyser column packing at much lower contains tritium at highest tritium concentration. concentration. Electrolyte handling No Yes

Operational complexity and Simple process Relatively complex process potential for operator error Both WD and CECE can be operated safely. However, WD has better Inherent Safety.

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Note: External tritiated water accepted by OPG for disposal is sent to the station HW upgrader to recover D2O and DTO. H2O is separated and sent to drain. Cryogenic distillation only recovers Darlington TRF (4 CD Columns) T2 from D2/DT.

Station Heavy Water Upgrader (3 WD Columns in series)

Source: Google Maps Link

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 5 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD Industrial Experience: 18O • WD is used to produce 18O. There are several producers in the world.

• CIL in Xenia, Ohio has been producing 18O water for the PET community since 1996. The expanded plant produces 250 kg/yr of 18O used for production of 18F in

the PET industry, and for other Source: Google Maps Link uses in medical research. • Cambridge Isotope Laboratories in Xenia, Ohio produces 18O by water distillation using surplus • Fukushima WD columns could Heavy Water Upgrader columns. Water distillation produce 18O in addition to tritium is the most common technology used for separating Oxygen isotopes. recovery, to offset capital cost and to produce a medically valuable isotope that benefits the medical community.

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 6 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence GEH-C Water Distillation Experience 1 • GEH-C has developed a competitive CY type WD packing. Activated Phosphor Bronze Packing • Packing surface activation is key to separation performance.

• Surface wetting requires a cupric oxide film.

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• Design of several WD Light Water Detritiation Facilities

• This example shows Mechanical Vapor Compression for ~90% heat recovery

• 500 kg/h throughput with ~1 MW(e) power Rolled out view showing elevations

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 8 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Heavy Water Upgrader Experience Reference: Ram Davloor, Gretel Steinberg, Anthony Busigin, Salwan Saeed, “Major Rehabilitation of the Bruce A Heat Transport Heavy Water Upgrader and Effect on Overall Upgrader System and Tower Packing Performance”, 9th CNS International Conference on CANDU® Maintenance, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, December 4-6, 2011 • Heavy water upgraders in Canada use dynamic simulation to analyze both deuterium and tritium separation in water distillation

• Note that the tritium activity in the head product is very low

• Heavy water upgraders also detritiate water! Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 9 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD Energy – Simple Heating & Cooling

Cooling water cooled Condenser • Simple heating and cooling Detritiated Water DF = 100 has high energy demand due to high reflux ratio for H2O/HTO separation – but Energy Requirement is less energy demand than 13.68 kW per kg/h of with H2O/HDO separation. feed. • Canadian heavy water Tritiated Water upgrader WD columns use Feed rate of 500 inexpensive low pressure 3 m /day corresponds to turbine exhaust steam. 285 MW(t) • Fukushima could supply natural gas reboilers for simple heating – but heat

DF = Detritiation Factor pumping to reduce energy EF = Enrichment Factor Steam heated Reboiler demand can significantly Tritiated Water Concentrate reduce energy cost. EF = 6930

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 10 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD Energy – Heat Pump with Hot-Cold Water Circuits – Option 1 Cooling water Cold water cooled cooled Trim Condenser • Industrial Heat Pump, Condenser ammonia refrigerant,

Detritiated Water pumps heat from 38°C to DF = 104 62°C

• Standard Heat Pump Water Distillation Heat Pumping Scheme packages available o Standard industrial water/water heat pump is used o Heat pumps for multiple columns can be located in a separate heat pumping facility, thus separating heat Energy Requirement is pumping from distillation operation. Tritiated Water 1.7 kW per kg/h of feed

About 87% of heat energy is recycled Heat

Heat within the system Hot water Pump heated Falling COP ≈ 9 Film Reboiler Feed rate of 500 3 Tritiated Water m /day corresponds to Concentrate DF = Detritiation Factor 35 MW(e) EF = Enrichment Factor EF = 5942

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 11 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Fukushima WD Process Block Diagram Detritiated Light Water About 90% of system cost is 3 399.933 m /day in the large Stripping Section x[H] = 0.99999 equipment. The rest of the x[D] = 5.69E-06 • WD Volume reduction of 6000 equipment is small. x[T] = 8.06E-14 (2.6E-07 Ci/kg) x[16O] = 0.99762 17 produces 85% D O, with 0.14 Ci/kg, Stripping x[ O] = 3.76E-04 2 x[18O] = 2.00E-03 Section 67 kg/day (about WD Tapered H/T 18m Separation Tritiated Light Water packing 3 Column 400 m /day height) 18 x[H] = 0.99985 (DF = 104) • O is easily separated from tritiated x[D] = 0.00015 Volume Reduction Factor = 6000 x[T] = 8.39E-12 (2.7E-05 Ci/kg) x[16O] = 0.99758 Intermediate Reboiler – water and upgraded to 99%. 17 x[ O] = 3.77E-04 boils up 98% of liquid 18 18 x[ O] = 2.04E-03 Nominal value of H2 O is

Steady state 400 m3/day $100/gram. case is shown. The same system can detritiate water at 500 m3/day at about 30% lower 18O production rate. To 18O • Small volume of tritiated D2O can be Recovery shipped to a Canadian heavy water Extra length for 18O Enriching Section reactor station for use as D O make- separation is shown in and 2 (about 53m packing height. green. Due to small Only 18m is necessary for diameter, the incremental up. (Heavy water reactors require 2 tritium separation. Extra cost for separating 18O is Tritium 18 packing height for O minimal. to 4 tonne/year of D2O make-up to separation generates Disposal significant income.) compensate for losses.)

Downgraded D2O Similar to downgraded CANDU 18 3 Heat Transport Water, but O Production is 16 kg/day at 400 m /day throughput with 17O and 18O Enriched 3 18 0.067 m3/day or 11 kg/day at 500 m /day throughput. ( O production x[H] = 0.13415 x[D] = 0.86585 x[T] = 4.99E-08 (0.14 Ci/kg) increases at lower detritiation rate due to higher reflux ratio.) x[16O] = 0.74907 18 x[17O] = 0.00832 Value of O produced is > $1 million per day! x[18O] = 0.24261

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 12 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Fukushima WD Concentration Profile WD Column Composition Profile • Cascade is 1 designed to Significant be mostly light 0.9 enrichment of D to 87%, and water 0.8 T by factor of Most of about 6000 to • Heavy oxygen 0.7 system 0.14 Ci/kg capital and isotopes and 0.6 energy cost deuterium rise th (98%) is in Small column diameter, 1/50 flows x[H] sharply at the 0.5 short section x[D] of large Shorter length of column x[T] bottom needed for just tritium diameter x[O16] 0.4 separation doesn’t enrich 18O Atom Fraction Atom column very much. Cost of extending x[O17] • Bottom before taper. 0.3 the small diameter column is x[O18] product flow minimal, with no additional energy cost. corresponds 0.2 to a volume 0.1 reduction factor of 6000 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Significant Position from Top of Packing, m enrichment of 18O to 24%

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 13 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Fukushima WD System Layout 1 164.00 124.00

Water Distillation Area, Maximum Equipment Height 38m Heat Pump Area Maximum Equipment Height 10m

P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B

COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 Cold Hot

Feed Tank REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 Tank Tank HP HP HP HP

COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 COL2 COL3 COL4 REB2 P P P P

P P P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B P2A/B P3A/B P3A/B P4A/B

P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B

COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 Cold Hot

Feed Tank REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 Tank Tank HP HP HP HP

00 P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B . COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 Cold Hot

96 Feed Tank REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 Tank Tank HP HP HP HP

P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B P1A P1B

COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 COL1 Cold Hot

Feed Tank REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 REB1 Tank Tank HP HP HP HP

Oxygen-18 Polishing All dimensions are in units of meters. Columns and Pumps

Maintenance and Administrative Area Product Handling Area Maximum Height 10m Maximum Equipment Height 10m

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Approximate Water Detritiation Building Profile

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 15 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Conclusions  WD technology is proven, including scale-up to large diameter  WD is a simple, safe and reliable process  WD design & simulation codes are proven: • steady state • dynamic  Industrial Heat Pumps are available for recycling heat  18O byproduct will offset or possibly pay for cost of water detritiation  18O production benefits medical diagnostics

We believe WD is the most proven and economic solution for Fukushima water detritiation

Thank you for your attention!

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Appendix

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 17 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Presentation Outline

1. Fukushima Light Water Detritiation Requirement 2. Water Distillation vs CECE – The Big Picture 3. Water Distillation Industrial Experience 4. Water Distillation 18O Byproduct Opportunity 5. GEH-C & Canadian Water Distillation Experience 6. Water Distillation Process Configuration and Energy Demand: a) Mechanical Vapor Compression b) Industrial Heat Pump 7. Conclusions

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 18 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Industrial Scale of Water Distillation Savannah River individual columns were similar in size Built 1943-1944 to current large CANDU® heavy water upgraders. However, CANDU® upgraders use only two or three columns.

Savannah River WD columns Built Early 1950s. Used to upgrade heavy water from 20% to 90%.

Morgantown, W. VA., Distillation Plant for Heavy Water Savannah River Water Distillation Plant • WD technology is now much more compact than in WW II era.

• Canadian heavy water reactor Heat Transport Upgraders routinely recover tritium and deuterium from mostly light water (typical feed is 70% light water, 30% heavy water, and about 1 Ci/kg tritium in the heavy water component ).

• Canadian heavy water reactor Heat Transport Upgraders have been in continuous use since the 1960s, and are the most proven and successful method of large scale light water detritiation, although heavy water upgrading is their primary function.

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 19 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD High Efficiency Packing – Effect on Column Height • WW II era used inefficient bubble cap tray columns Relative Height of Distillation Columns Depending on Packing Type for Similar • Structured wire gauze Overall Isotope Separation Factor packing allows modern WD to be drastically smaller than Modern WD Columns are tiny in historical bubble cap tray comparison to columns historical bubble Morgantown Type Bubble Plate Column cap tray columns! (40 x taller than Dixon Ring Lab Column) • Structured packing, like that used in WD columns is used in many other industrial BX Structured Packing (CANDU) distillation applications at

CY Structured Packing large size. (CANDU)

Dixon Rings or Similar Packing for Lab Scale Columns Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 20 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Heavy Water Upgrader Experience Reference: Ram Davloor, Gretel Bruce 'A' HT Upgrader Simulation versus Measured D2O Profile Steinberg, Anthony Busigin, 100% Salwan Saeed, “Major Rehabilitation of the Bruce A Heat Transport Heavy Water 90% Upgrader and Effect on Overall Upgrader System and Tower 80% Packing Performance”, 9th CNS International Conference on 70% CANDU® Maintenance, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, December 4-6, 2011 60% • Dynamic simulation 50% closely matches D2O, Wt% 40% measured performance 30% Simulation D2O wt%, non-uniform HETP • Dynamic simulation 20% Measured is used to analyze Simulation D2O wt%, uniform HETP 10% column behavior with varying feed 0% composition, and to 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 simulate column Theoretical Stage detritiation prior to maintenance shutdown Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 21 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence GEH-C Water Distillation Experience

18 • GE Healthcare built O Separation by Water Distillation, Simulation vs Experiment a water distillation xD xM xB Top Middle Bottom 1.2% system in the UK to recover tritium from 1.0% water after thermal oxidation of tritiated Fit between dynamic organic wastes. 0.8% simulation model and experiment is excellent. Water distillation is well • Inactive 0.6% understood! commissioning 18O % demonstrated WD 0.4% separation

performance by 0.2% separating oxygen

isotopes. 0.0% 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 Time, h

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 22 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Heat Pump COP Definition COP = Coefficient of Performance COP = = Heat supplied to𝑄𝑄 the process = Work consumed𝑊𝑊 by heat pump 𝑄𝑄 + 𝑊𝑊 COP = = 𝑄𝑄𝐻𝐻 𝑄𝑄𝐶𝐶 𝑊𝑊 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒COP = 𝑊𝑊 𝑊𝑊 𝐶𝐶 = heat removed𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 from𝑄𝑄 cold reservoir = heat supplied to hot𝑊𝑊 reservoir 𝑄𝑄𝐶𝐶

𝑄𝑄𝐻𝐻 Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 23 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD – Industrial Water/Water Heat Pump

Heat Extracted from Condenser = QC Water to WD Condenser Ammonia Vapor Pressure 70 ΔT ≈ 5°C Evaporation of Working Fluid absorbs Water from WD Condenser heat. Circulating water An ammonia heat pump 60 from/to WD compressor for WD is relatively Condenser is cooled. small due to operation in the 13 to 50 30 bar pressure range.

A corresponding mechanical vapor Evaporator 40 compressor is much larger due to the low WD condenser pressure of Work W 0.08 bar, requiring very high Ammonia Working Fluid 30 volumetric flow. Pressure, bar Pressure, Compressor Condenser 20 A Freon refrigerant is available, but it has inferior heat transfer characteristics, and 10 is less environmentally friendly in case of environmental emissions. Condensation of Working Fluid releases 0 heat. Circulating water 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Water to WD Reboiler from/to WD Reboiler is Temperature, °C heated. ΔT ≈ 5°C The Heat Pump working fluid system is hermetically sealed, Water from WD Reboiler like a household refrigerator. Heat Delivered to Reboiler = QC + W

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 24 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD Heat Pump Maximum Theoretical Performance • WD Column Design Characteristics: condenser = 315K (42°C), = 8 kPa = 320K (47°C), = 11.6 kPa (intermediate reboiler) 𝑇𝑇reboiler 𝑃𝑃 = 5K across condenser and reboiler heat exchangers 𝑇𝑇 𝑃𝑃

∆𝑇𝑇 320 + 5 COP = = 21.67 , 320 + 5 315 5 𝑇𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ≈ 𝑇𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 − 𝑇𝑇𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 − − COP , is for an ideal Carnot heat pump • In a practical design, COP of 8 to 10 is readily achievable • ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 1 kW(e) provides 8 to 10 kW(t) of WD boilup.

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 25 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD – Industrial Heat Pump 2

Typical Ammonia Heat Pump COP (~60% Carnot Efficiency) 100 • Typical ammonia heat pump 90 performance 80 • Heat pumps are 70 available in a wide

60 range of sizes COP = 12 50 COP = 10 • Compressor Water COP = 8 operating life is 40 Distillation COP = 6 20+ years application COP = 4 30 COP ≈ 9

HP Outlet Hot Water Temperature HP Outlet Hot Water • Units are 20 hermetically sealed 10

0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 HP Outlet Cold Water Temperature

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 26 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD Energy – Direct Mechanical Vapor Compression – Option 2 Trim Cooling Condenser • Mechanical Vapor Detritiated Water DF = 100 Compression (MVC) Energy Requirement drastically reduces energy cost of distillation. is 1.4 kW per kg/h of feed • Costs associated with steam boiler system are Tritiated Vapor avoided. Water Compressor 90% of heat energy is recycled within • Water vapor MVC is widely the system used in water desalination, orange juice evaporation, Feed rate of 500 sugar evaporation, etc. m3/day corresponds • Capital cost of vapor DF = Detritiation Factor to 28 MW(e) EF = Enrichment Factor compressors is often Reboiler Tritiated Water recovered in just one to two Concentrate EF = 6930 years of energy savings

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 27 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Industrial Scale Mechanical Vapor Compressor

• Steam compressors Twin element steam ejectors have been used for over on a large crude oil vacuum 50 years tower • Exceptionally high plant availabilities of 96% – 98% are reported

• MVC specific energy consumption of 7-10 kWh/ton distillate is achieved in sea water desalination application

• WD application at 0.08 bar condenser pressure requires large vapor flow of 7.7 x 106 m3/h for 500 m3/day detritiation

GE Steam Compressors are available from 5,000 to 250,000 m3/h. See: www.ge-energy.com/content/multimedia/_files/downloads/Centrifugal_Compressors_SRL.pdf

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WD Energy – Auxiliary Heat Pump Circuit – Option 3

Trim Cooling • Auxiliary Heat Pump, Condenser ammonia refrigerant, Detritiated Water DF = 100 pumps heat from Heat pump 40°C to 65°C compressor Expansion Valve (ammonia refrigerant) is much Energy Requirement smaller than is 1.4 kW per kg/h Refrigerant compressor in Direct Tritiated (ammonia) Water Mechanical Vapor of feed Compressor Compression 90% of heat energy is recycled within the system

Feed rate of 500 DF = Detritiation Factor 3 EF = Enrichment Factor m /day corresponds Reboiler Tritiated Water to 28 MW(e) Concentrate EF = 6930 Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 29 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc.

Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence WD Energy – Multiple Effect Distillation and Thermocompressor Vapor Compression – Option 4

Detritiated Water • Relatively Cooling DF = 100 Water complex process Condenser with about 60% Energy energy savings Requirement as compared to Lower Higher Pressure is 6 kW per Pressure direct heating Column Column kg/h of feed. and cooling. Tritiated Water Feed rate of • Not as much energy savings Trim 500 m3/day Cooling as with MVC or Condenser corresponds Heat Pump to 124 MW(t) alternatives

DF = Detritiation Factor EF = Enrichment Factor Steam Ejector • There are no Reboiler Heated by Vapor Reboiler mechanical from Column 2 heated by Steam Ejector Boiler compressors in Outlet Steam Tritiated Water Concentrate this alternative, EF = 6930 so capital cost is

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be lower. used or reproduced without prior written consent from 30 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Recovery of 18O from QT18O, Option 1 • No flammability or Carbon Dioxide – Water Oxygen Isotope Exchange explosion hazard 16 H 16O Head H2 O 2 Product to • Exchange rate 18 C O2 Drain QT18O between water and carbon dioxide is well No catalyst is known required at exchange temperature of • Exchange is slow at 80°C to 100°C. room temperature but fast enough at

16 Small elevated temperature C O2 H 18O to final 18O enrichment 2 Diameter 18 to not require catalyst H2 O Q = H, D or T Polishing • Equipment is small Column

16 and inexpensive QT O to Tritium Disposal 18 99% H2 O Product • CO2 molecule does not carry tritium

16 (~86% D2 O with 0.14 Ci/kg Tritium)

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 31 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Recovery of 18O from QT18O, Option 2

Hydrogen – Water Oxygen Isotope Exchange • Hydrogen flammability 16 H2 O and explosion hazard –

QT 16 QT18O H2 O Head but safe closed system Product to Drain • No electrolyser is required

Small • Small LPCE columns 80°C LPCE 35°C LPCE Diameter 18 H2 O • LPCE Catalyst is more Polishing 16 expensive than inert QT O to Column Tritium H2 Disposal packing 16 (~86% D2 O with 0.14 Ci/kg • Q2 molecule carries Q = H, D or T 18 18 Tritium) H2 O to final O Enrichment 18 tritium between 99% H2 O Product columns

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 32 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence 18 H2 O Product Final Enrichment 18 H2 O Enrichment Column Composition Profile • Small diameter 1 column to 18 enrich H2 O to 0.9 99% purity 0.8 • WD is 0.7 economic 17 H2 O accumulates in the technology for 0.6 middle of the column, and 18 could be withdrawn at a small x[H] H2 O 0.5 rate as a separate product. x[D] production 17O is the only oxygen isotope x[T] irrespective of 0.4 with nuclear spin, making it x[O16] Atom Fraction Atom valuable in medical Magnetic x[O17] tritium 0.3 Resonance Imaging (MRI). x[O18] separation

0.2 18 • H2 O product offsets cost of 0.1 detritiation. 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Position from Top of Packing, m

Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 33 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. Light Isotope Technology Doc No: 8000-0685 Centre of Excellence Water Distillation 18O Byproduct Opportunity

Stable Oxygen Isotope Natural Abundance • Almost all the 18O 16 produced in the world O 99.758% is produced by water 17O 0.038% distillation • Market value of H 18O 18 2 O 0.204% is about $100/gram

• 18O is the precursor for 18F used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) medical imaging scanners

• 18F is produced by irradiation of 18O with high energy protons (18 MeV) from a cyclotron. 18O + 1H  18F + n. The target 18 material is H2 O.

• 18F is a positron emitter with a half life of http://www3.gehealthcare.com/en/products/categories/pet- 109.77 minutes. ct/pet-ct_scanners/discovery_iq Proprietary Information. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or reproduced without prior written consent from 34 GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada Inc.