Transport properties of gases in polymers:: Experimental methods

The permeability of gases in polymers is a property inherent to their structure, which results, firstly. from the absorption of fluids by the material, then, from rite diffusion of these products through the polymer matrix. The capacity of a gas to cross more or less fast a material can be used in numerous industrial domains. For example, polymers of low permeability are looked for in domains as different as the oil production, the food packaging or the automotive industry, For oil applications, the main function of polymers is to ensure the leakproof of pipes for example. In that case, materials are in contact of gas at high temperature and high pressure. As rile information concerning the gases transport coefficients in these extreme conditions uas not available in literature, devices able to give acc ess to these properties were del eloped. In this paper, the methods for obtaining the transport coefficients and a brief bibliographical review of the various existing experimental techniques are presented. Then, the var ions experimental devices developed are described in detail.