Posted by Diffusion-polymers.com on March 13, 2005 at 22:06:36:

In Reply to: H2 diffusion through clear plastics. posted by Jonathan Meuser on March 13, 2005 at 02:38:01:

Dear Jon,

The permeability of gaseous Hydrogen through an amorphous (=reason for clearness/transparency)
plastic, like Polycarbonate, is in the order of:

2 E-11 gram/ms - 9 E-11 gram /ms

at 23 degrees Celsius and 1 atmosphere.

When you build the reactor with a wall of 1 mm thickness, it will give a mass transfer per square meter of reactor in the stationary state:

2 E-8 gram/m2s - 9 E-8 gram/ m2s.

When you need the exact permeability at different temperatures/pressures and/or also need further
support with reactor design from a mass transfer/material point of view, please contact us

: Hello,

: I have heard that plastics are unacceptable for bioreactors designed to produce and harvest H2. Could anyone give me data and/or papers that describe H2 diffusion through such composite and multilaye materials, like Poly Carbonate. I am currently working on small-scale bioreactors for photosynthetic hydrogen production. www.futurefarmers.com/survey/algae.php I realize that glass is ideal for this application, but a plastic be easier to work with.

: Thanks,
: Jon