Vapour Permeability Sensors Accommodate Ever Expanding Range of Materials

Versaperm has announced a fast and accurate solution for laboratories to measure the permeability of almost any material against virtually any gas, from water vapour to hydrocarbons and from solvents through to hydrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Vapour permeability measurements are widely used in almost every industry as it is critical in most real-life applications. It substantially alters properties such as the shelf life of pharmaceuticals and foods. Permeability also controls the handle-ability, jam-ability and print quality of paper, the texture of pizza, the efficiency of seals, the waterproofness of products, enclosures and textiles, the effectiveness of a lorry’s airbrakes and it has even caused missiles and aircraft to crash.

A range of sensors, using a wide different physical principals, enables Versaperm’s equipment to be used across an extensive range of applications to characterise a continually expanding range of materials, compounds, containers, products and laminates. Available sensors include gas chromatography, pressure measurements, semiconductor, electrolytic, infrared, capacitive, impedance, thermal conductivity, flame ionisation, catalytic combustion, photoionisation, zirconium dioxide, paramagnetic, electrochemical, coulometric and mass spectrometer.

Manufacturing processes such as heating, forming and bending can reduce permeability to 25% of its original value. This means that results usually cannot be estimated from a material’s properties but must be measured directly after production. The Versaperm system can do this and it offers both single and multiple chamber options.

Versaperm’s permeability meter is highly automated and can cope with several samples at a time. It needs very little re-calibration and requires, at most, minimal training. Sensitivities depend on sensors, gasses and materials but are usually in the parts per million range, parts per billion for some materials. Results are both accurate and highly repeatable.

Versaperm also offers a consultancy service for laboratories that need to measure permeability of complex new materials and assemblages.

Versaperm Ltd, +44 1628 777668, info@versaperm.com, www.versaperm.com.