Prediction of Leak Rates Through Porous Gaskets at High Temperature

Abstract

The ability of a gasket to maintain tightness under different operating conditions has been studied extensively in recent years. However, most of the research studies conducted on leakage predictions was performed at room temperature. The aim of this work is to predict leakage through gaskets taking into account the effect of the temperature on the fluid properties and gasket internal structural characteristics. The analytical model of slip flow regime to evaluate the mass leak rates through a porous gasket developed by Grine and Bouzid (2011, “Correlation of Gaseous Mass Leak Rates Through Micro and NanoPorous Gaskets,â€‌ ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol.) was used in this study. The results from the model were validated and compared with the experimental data obtained from tests conducted on the Universal Gasket Rig with two different gases (helium and nitrogen). The leak rates measured are in the range of 1 to 0.0001 mg/s, which are measurable using the pressure rise technique. As a second objective, the influence of the gasket displacements caused by stress and temperature on the flow leakage was studied. A relationship between displacement or void thickness and leakage is clearly demonstrated. The slip flow regime model is capable of predicting leakage at temperature with reasonable accuracy.