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CHARACTERIZATION OF GLOVEBOX GLOVES FOR THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

Journal Article · · The Enclosure, a publication of the American Glovebox Society
OSTI ID:1096412
A task was undertaken to characterize glovebox gloves that are currently used in the facilities at Savannah River Site (SRS) as well as some experimental and advanced compound gloves that have been proposed for use. Gloves from four manufacturers were tested for permeation in hydrogen and air, thermal stability, tensile properties, puncture resistance and dynamic mechanical response. The gloves were compared to each other within the type and also to the butyl rubber glove that is widely used at the SRS. The permeation testing demonstrated that the butyl compounds from three of the vendors behaved similarly and exhibited hydrogen permeabilities of .52‐.84 x10{sup ‐7} cc H{sub 2}*cm / (cm{sup 2}*atm). The Viton glove performed at the lower edge of this bound, while the more advanced composite gloves exhibited permeabilities greater than a factor of two compared to butyl. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the amount of material lost under slightly aggressive conditions. Glove losses are important since they can affect the life of glovebox stripper systems. During testing at 90, 120, and 150°C, the samples lost most of the mass in the initial 60 minutes of thermal exposure and as expected increasing the temperature increased the mass loss and shortened the time to achieve a steady state loss. The ranking from worst to best was Jung butyl‐Hypalon with 12.9 %, Piercan Hypalon with 11.4 %, and Jung butyl‐Viton with 5.2% mass loss all at approximately 140°C. The smallest mass losses were experienced by the Jung Viton and the Piercan polyurethane. Tensile properties were measured using a standard dog bone style test. The butyl rubber exhibited tensile strengths of 11‐15 MPa and elongations or 660‐843%. Gloves made from other compounds exhibited lower tensile strengths (5 MPa Viton) to much higher tensile strengths (49 MPa Urethane) with a comparable range of elongation. The puncture resistance of the gloves was measured in agreement with an ASTM standard. The Butyl gloves exhibited puncture resistance from 183 - 296 lbs/in for samples of 0.020 - 0.038 thick. Finally, the glass transition temperature and the elastic and viscoelastic properties as a function of temperature up to maximum use temperature were determined for each glove material using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis. The glass transition temperatures of the gloves were ‐60°C for butyl, ‐30°C for polyurethane, ‐ 16°C Hypalon, ‐16°C for Viton, and ‐24°C for polyurethane‐Hypalon. The glass transition was too complex for the butyl‐Hypalon and butyl‐Viton composite gloves to be characterized by a single glass transition temperature. All of the glass transition temperatures exceed the vendor projected use temperatures.
Research Organization:
SRS
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-08SR22470
OSTI ID:
1096412
Report Number(s):
SRNL-STI-2013-00027
Journal Information:
The Enclosure, a publication of the American Glovebox Society, Journal Name: The Enclosure, a publication of the American Glovebox Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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42 ENGINEERING