Engines
Company Says New Seals, Gaskets Are Impervious to SAF
Nitrile seals can leak when exposed to 100% SAF
Elastomer seals
Greene Tweed says its new elastomer seals are fully compatible with sustainable aviation fuel.

Greene Tweed believes it has solved one of the biggest hurdles in the widespread adoption of 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF): gasket and seal leakage. This problem arises due to the lack of aromatic compounds in neat SAF, which are necessary in legacy aircraft fuel systems for the proper function of synthetic rubber (nitrile) gaskets and seals in preventing leakage.

“Since there may be nitrile seals in both the legacy aircraft fuel systems (and in the refueling systems) that have been exposed to aromatic-containing jet fuel, any ‘drop-in’ SAF will still need to be blended with aromatic containing fuels,” said Ronald Campbell, senior technical advisor for Pennsylvania-based materials developer Greene Tweed.