H3AT TMC Metal Bellow Pump

The objective of Tritium Monitoring and Counting (TMC) project is to design, build and operate a test rig that will allow different on-line gas composition analysers to be tested under some of operating conditions that would be found in the DEMO plant. The intention of this work is to develop a tritium analytics experiment to support the DEMO tritium accountancy concept, namely, to provide improved knowledge on critical measurement techniques so that the associated uncertainty of the DEMO accountancy statement is reduced. Achieving this is prerequisite to satisfying the regulatory requirements pertaining to safety, the environment and non-proliferation for which the need to know how much tritium there is and where the tritium is in the fuel cycle at all times is key. A further requirement is the ability to measure tritium to satisfy the needs for process monitoring and control (PMC).

To this end, four operating conditions have been identified: static, continuous, recirculation and response rate. The first phase of this project (Romanelli, 2021) showed that Raman and Mass Spectrometry are highly advanced in technical readiness for tritium measurements in DEMO. Therefore, Raman Spectrometry will be tested as a continuous measurement technique with Mass Spectrometry used as a reference technique.

The TMC experimental rig is intended for gas analysis using a reference analyser and analytical analysers. The mass spectrometer has been chosen as the reference analyser while the Raman spectrometer is the analytical analyser. There is also the potential for using a second analytical analyser. Gas samples will be analysed using these analysers in different operational modes. The analysed gases will then be evacuated to a suitable location.

Among the several required components for the TMC rig, there are different types of pumps. Object of the present tender is a metal bellow pump.