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Fusion Science and Technology
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A year in orbit: ISS deployment tests radiation detectors for future space missions
The predawn darkness on a cool Florida night was shattered by the ignition of nine Merlin engines on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The thrust of the engines shook the ground miles away. From a distance, the rocket appeared to slowly rise above the horizon. For the cargo onboard, the launch was anything but gentle, as the ignition of liquid oxygen generated more than 1.5 million pounds of force. After the rocket had been out of sight for several minutes, the booster dramatically returned to Earth with several sonic booms in a captivating show of engineering designed to make space travel less expensive and more sustainable.
Musharaf Rabbani, Anthony Busigin, Haiqin Mao, Nisa Halsey, Dayna La Barbera
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 3 | April-May 2024 | Pages 340-350
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2224315
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the combined electrolysis and catalytic exchange (CECE) process, the electrolyzer produces both hydrogen and oxygen streams. Hydrogen is typically fed to the bottom of the liquid-phase catalytic exchange column. The oxygen stream, however, is processed and afterward is either fed back to the trickle bed recombiner in heavy water detritiation or released to the exhaust stack in light water detritiation. This paper discusses the handling of the oxygen stream both in heavy and light water detritiation CECE processes. Oxygen leaving the electrolyzer has a trace amount of tritium gas in it as well as water vapor (due to diffusion across the membrane). Trace tritium is converted to vapor using a catalytic converter and then either scrubbed using an oxygen vapor scrubber or captured in a dryer bed. This study analyzes and compares the different options for handling the oxygen stream in a CECE process.