Generation and Analysis of Tritium-Substituted Methane

An unavoidable category of molecular species in large-scale tritium applications, such as nuclear fusion, are tritium-substituted hydrocarbons, which form by radiochemical reactions in the presence of (circulating) tritium and carbon (mainly from the steel of vessels and tubing). Tritium-substituted methane species, CQ₄ (with Q = H,D,T), are often the precursor for higher-order reaction chains, and thus are of particular interest. Here we describe the controlled production of CQ₄ carried out in the CAPER facility of the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe, exploiting catalytic reactions and species enrichment via the CAPER integral permeator. CQ₄ was generated in substantial quantities (>1000 cm³ at ~850 mbar, with CQ₄content of up to ~20%). The samples were analyzed using laser Raman and mass spectrometry to determine the relative isotopologue composition and to trace the generation of tritiated chain hydrocarbons.