In order to realize the planned deuterium plasma experiments using the Large Helical Device (LHD), the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) is planning to install a system for tritium recovery from exhaust gas. While adopting typical tritium recovery systems, NIFS has also made plans for the development of a compact reduced-waste recovery system by applying a membrane type dehumidifier. A commercially available membrane dehumidifier was evaluated experimentally for this purpose with the results indicating such a membrane is feasible for practical application.

A small scale test apparatus having a capacity 1/10th (30 m3/h) that of the actual tritium recovery system with the same flow control system was constructed and its performance evaluated.