Properties of yttrium sorbers which improve tritium sorption rate from liquid lithium

A model, based on solute uptake from a well-mixed solution, has been developed to determine sorber diffusivities from tritium sorption data. Diffusivities from eleven experimental runs, which include five samples of yttrium and two different geometries at two temperatures, have been correlated with surface area and void fraction. Acceptable performance is achieved at 300/sup 0/C when surface areas are greater than 0.1m/sup 2//gm and porosities are greater than 30%. Sorbers which fall in this range have been produced from pelletized yttrium powder.