A promising new cryogenic seal candidate

Abstract

The Space Shuttle carries more than 500,000 kg of liquid oxygen (LO2) and 100,000 kg of liquid hydrogen (LH2) propellant. Seals for this main propellant system therefore must provide extremely high reliability under prolonged service at cryogenic temperatures. The chief threat to consistently reliable operation is not the cryogenic service itself, but the 325 K temperature variation encountered during each individual mission. Moreover, this reliability must be sustained during the entire 100-mission/ten-year projected life of the Space Shuttle. It was feared that conventional liquid oxygen seal materials (filled Teflon and Kel-F) could cold flow or compression set to such an extent during the high-temperature phases of the 100 successive missions that failures could result. Thus, in addition to LO2 compatibility and cryogenic serviceability, this program was directed toward seals that were not thermoplastic and had good compression set resistance