Tritium, Deuterium, and Helium Permeation through EPDM O-Rings

This paper discusses tritium permeabilities determined at room temperature, 1.0 MPa (150 psia) tritium for three 23.4 cm diameter EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene monomer) O-rings using a full-scale mock-up of the Al-SX shipping container seal geometry. The AL-SX container is being developed by Sandia National Laboratories for shipping tritium reservoirs. To determine the tritium permeation rate as a function of temperature, a 50.8 mm diameter EPDM O-ring was tested from room temperature to 150{degrees}C at a pressure of 1.0 MPa. Additional permeation measurements were made under the following test conditions: deuterium and helium-4 at room temperature and a pressure of 1.0 MPa using the full-scale AL-SX fixture, tritium from 0.1 MPa to 1.0 MPa at 142{degrees}C using the 50.8 mm fixture, and deuterium form room temperature to 150{degrees}C at a pressure of 1.0 MPa using the three full-scale O-rings showed the average room temperature, 1.0 MPa steady state tritium permeation rate to be about 1 {times} 10{sup {minus}2} Pa-liter/sec (7.6 {times} 10{sup {minus}5} torr-liter/sec or 1 {times} 10{sup {minus}4} std cc/sec), well within the allowable limit of 7.1 {times} 10{sup {minus}2} Pa-liter/sec for tritium release form the AL-SX container.