Gas permeameter for polymers and nanocomposites: a new equipment

Information on the gas transport coefficients in the permeation of homogeneous semipermeable materials such as semicrystalline polymers under extreme pressures and temperatures is rarely found in the literature. Therefore, the objective of this work is to showcase innovation regarding the accuracy and usability of the medium pressure and temperature gas permeameter suitable for polymeric and polymeric nanocomposite plates built by the authors, which was tested with nitrogen at 1 MPa and 69 degrees C (342.15 K) permeating pure high density polyethylene samples (HDPE) and HDPE samples with added nanoclay, redoing the tests published in a previous work on the subject. The results were compared against data obtained previously and information present in the literature, validating the permeameter presented in this work, which is capable of analyzing gas permeability under the described conditions with greater accuracy and ease of operation than the previous model for the values of the transport coefficients of nitrogen permeating HDPE, demonstrating that the implemented improvements and advances were adequate, allowing the measurement of the transport properties of gases permeating polymeric and nanocomposite plates, necessary information for the design of risers for the transportation of oil and natural gas, for example.

Automated summary

This paper introduces a novel medium pressure and temperature gas permeameter that can accurately and conveniently analyze the permeability of gases in polymeric and nanocomposite materials. By testing samples of high density polyethylene and HDPE with added nanoclay, the feasibility of the permeameter is verified, and the effectiveness of the implemented improvements and advances is demonstrated.