Metal Seal Technologies in Subsea Applications

摘要

As the environment for the oil and gas industry has become increasingly demanding, so has the need forreliable sealing solutions and related standards.Traditionally, metal seals and gaskets had been considered of interest because of their high temperatureresistance and mechanical properties. However, their obvious downside of limited ductility and elasticity,compared to non-metallic materials, remained difficult to overcome. Soft, compressible elastomersprovide good sealing performance, but are porous and cannot reliably withstand temperatures in excessof 482℉ (250℃). They also become hard and brittle in cryogenic service. Metal seals have much greatertemperature capabilities, high mechanical properties, lack of porosity and long shelf life, but as mentioned,ductility and elasticity have always been the limiting factor. Understanding application requirementsand design criteria is critical to selecting the proper sealing solution in challenging applications such as subsea oil & gas production.