Deuterium from Heavy Water
Deuterium is recovered by concentrating water into heavy water and electrolyzing it — mature processes that require no new industry for the burner.
From water to heavy water
Deuterium is bound up in water as HDO and, rarely, D2O. Concentrating it means preferentially enriching these heavier molecules. The Girdler sulfide process cycles water and hydrogen sulfide between hot and cold towers, using the temperature-dependent tendency of deuterium to shift between the two, to progressively enrich water in deuterium. Vacuum distillation and other exchange methods refine the product further to reactor-grade heavy water.
Then to deuterium gas
Heavy water is electrolyzed to release deuterium gas, which is dried, purified, and stored for the fuel plant. All of this is decades-old industrial practice — heavy water has been produced at scale for other purposes for generations. Aegis therefore adds no new deuterium-production technology; it draws on an existing, well-understood supply base. The only fuel-technology novelty on the burner side is helium-3 handling, not deuterium.
- Deuterium enriched from water as HDO / D2O
- Girdler sulfide process plus distillation to heavy water
- Electrolysis releases deuterium gas for storage
- Mature technology — no new deuterium industry required
This maturity is part of why the burner's fuel-security discussion focuses on helium-3: the deuterium half of the fuel is a solved, abundant, industrial commodity.