Hydropower and water management

Hydrogen atoms are extremely small and can also penetrate solid materials due to this property. This process is known as permeation. Over time, pressure transmitters become inoperable due to this process. However, their service life can be optimized with a gold coating; the permeability of gold is around 10,000 times lower than that of stainless steel. With a 1 μm gold coating on a 50 μm steel membrane, hydrogen permeation can be suppressed significantly more effectively than by doubling the membrane thickness to 100 μm.