The Plane truth about Airships
and vapour permeability

Airships are making a comeback, in part because they are a green way to travel and partly due to improvements in technology.

The problem with airships is that helium molecules are smaller than any other gas so they escape much more easily. Modern fabrics have impressive characteristics, but it is still impossible to predict the rate at which gas permeates through them with any accuracy.  The question becomes one of testing and the answer is Versaperm.

With Airship and Aerospace materials testing is essential as part of both development and quality control.  Final testing is also needed as manufacturing processes, such as bonding, welding and thermoforming, can change a package’s permeability by several hundred percent!  Fortunately, Versaperm has developed a multi-gas permeability meter that gives fast results that are accurate in the Parts Per Million (PPM) to PPB ranges.  It is easy to use and highly automated.
There are absolutely no materials through which vapours cannot permeate. So it is important to measure the not only how fast helium seeps out of the airbag fabrics but also how quickly atmospheric gases permeate in.  The Versaperm system can measure the permeability for hydrogen and virtually every other gas* including hydrocarbons, solvents, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour. 

Where a company’s throughput is not high enough to warrant purchasing a dedicated instrument, Versaperm also offers a fast turnaround laboratory measurement, as well as a permeability consultancy service.

ENDS

* Poisonous and radioactive gasses can only be legally measured in properly certified laboratories.

Please send any sales enquiries to
Versaperm Ltd: 10 Rawcliffe House, Howarth Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 1AP, UK,
e.mail: info@versaperm.com www.versaperm.com
UK Tel: +44 (01628) 777668
USA Tel +011 (617) 500-8607

For Further Press Information please contact:
Gerry Palmer @ the Palmer & Rose Partnership
Tel 01494 637499 
e.mail gerry@palmer-rose.co.uk