Water distillation systems have been used for 80 years and are currently employed in all CANDU® nuclear power stations for heavy water upgrading. 

Extremely tall bubble plate distillation columns evolved to much shorter columns, using random and then structured phosphor bronze packing. Heavy water upgraders to this day utilize full-diameter layers of packing separated by liquid distributors.

Laker TRF’s AWD design uses super-hydrophilic corrosion-resistant stainless-steel packing activated by Laker TRF’s own proprietary glass coating process. Khun-style columns constructed with multiple internal columns of identical diameter are scalable to any design capacity. Overall column height is dramatically reduced by Laker TRF’s high-efficiency packing and the elimination of liquid distributors.

The planning for Laker’s Tritium Removal Facility began in 2015, and testing protocols were carried out to ensure optimal design and efficiency. 

A Laker TRF commercial-sized tritium removal facility, regardless of capacity, simply consists of multiple internal columns identical in diameter to the test column, using the identical packing. Performance of a commercial facility can therefore be directly extrapolated from the proven test column performance.