Xenon mitigation project - Phase II: design study

The xenon mitigation project aims at designing a mobile system for the reduction of radioxenon emissions from Radiopharmaceutical facilities. In this part of the project, the design of the adsorption system for the capture of xenon was studied. According to the results from the first phase of the project, on the adsorbent materials, the most promissing material was the Ag-ETS-10. The design studies were thus focussed on this material. The optmization of the trap geometry was investigated and resulted in an optimized length to diameter ratio for the trap of 10. The regeneration conditions of the Ag-ETS-10 were investigated in order to optimize the regeneration process. The optimal temperature for regeneration with Helium is around 170°C. The required volume of Ag-ETS-10 for the capture of a defined amount of xenon was calculated based on the operationnal conditions at the Institute for RadioElements (IRE). The heat build-up inside the adsorbent material due to the decay of the captured radioxenon was studied. The final technical design was developed based on both the results from the studies done in this phase and on the constraints due to the operationnal conditions at the IRE and was done in close collaboration with experts from IRE.