Radiolytic Gas Production Rates of Polymers Exposed to Tritium Gas

Technical Report · Sat Aug 31 04:00:00 EDT 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1092143· OSTI ID:1092143

Clark, Elliot A. ^[1]

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1. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)

Data from previous reports on studies of polymers exposed to tritium gas is further analyzed to estimate rates of radiolytic gas production. Also, graphs of gas release during tritium exposure from ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, a trade name is Teflon®), and Vespel® polyimide are re-plotted as moles of gas as a function of time, which is consistent with a later study of tritium effects on various formulations of the elastomer ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM). These gas production rate estimates may be useful while considering using these polymers in tritium processing systems. These rates are valid at least for the longest exposure times for each material, two years for UHMW-PE, PTFE, and Vespel®, and fourteen months for filled and unfilled EPDM. Note that the production “rate” for Vespel® is a quantity of H₂ produced during a single exposure to tritium, independent of length of time. The larger production rate per unit mass for unfilled EPDM results from the lack of filler- the carbon black in filled EPDM does not produce H₂ or HT. This is one aspect of how inert fillers reduce the effects of ionizing radiation on polymers.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-08SR22470
• OSTI ID: 1092143
• Report Number(s): SRNL-STI--2013-00506
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Polymer
Radiolytic Gas Production Rate
Tritium