Residual tritiated water in molecular sieves

This paper discusses results of experiments that measured the residual tritiated water remaining on the sieve after regeneration and experiments to determine if the tritium inventory can be reduced after regeneration. Three types of experiments were performed. First, molecular sieve was placed in a standard calorimeter, which measures the heat resulting from the decay of the residual tritium in the sieve. These measurements indicated an average residual tritium concentration of 0.3 Ci/g of molecular sieve. However, there were substantial variations in the calorimeter readings from run to run. Second, small samples of sieve were soaked in water to leach out the tritiated water. Samples of the water were then measured in a liquid scintillation counter to determine the quantity of tritium in the liquid. These experiments indicated a residual tritium concentration of 0.08 Ci/g of molecular sieve. Third, an additional sample of the molecular sieve was heated and dissolved in Na/sub 2/CO/sub 3/ in a glove box. The tritium that evolved was then measured by noting the increase in the tritium concentration in the glove box. This experiment indicated a minimum tritium concentration of 0.03 Ci/g of molecular sieve.