Versaperm Limited

Doing a great job at keeping out water, greases or liquid, O-rings, gaskets and seals do sometimes however have such low vapour resistance that gasses, such as water vapour, can pass through them virtually unhindered (e.g cellulose, EVOH or PVOH). This dramatically reduces their effectiveness.

Valves, filters, tubes and pipes are ubiquitous. Sadly they all suffer from the often critical curse that vapours and gasses can permeate through the actual materials things are made from, so it ends up in the places it shouldn't be! From the massive valves on an oil pipeline through to tiny carbon fibre tubes, this can cause enormous problems, damage and product failure.

Most valves, mastics, seals and gaskets are a good barrier against liquids. However, a lot of them leak like the proverbial sieve when it comes to vapours, such as hydrocarbon products and water vapour which can actually permeate through the materials that makes up the walls, seals and mastics.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is both a greenhouse gas and essential to life (photosynthesis). It is used to make drinks as well as in a huge range of industrial and commercial processes such as welding, oil production, electronics, paper making, steel manufacture, water treatment and even in the theatre. The problem is that it is also very good at getting into places you don't want it to be, and out of places you do. Not through leakage - but through because it permeates through the actual materials that are used to enclose it.

Waterproofing products is not a simple task. Water is easy to keep out – but water vapour permeates through every material – and in doing so causes several billion pounds of waste to UK industry every year. Versaperm has developed a range of testing instrumentation to help companies overcome the problem and measure permeability for both material samples and complex finished products or components.