Development of frost-resistant sealing rings for fire safety in the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation

Introduction. In the context of active Arctic development, ensuring fire safety has become a strategic task. Currently, there is a problem of hardening and breaking of sealing rings when the temperature drops to –40 °C, despite the declared operating temperature of –60 °C, according to the UHL-1 climate category. This can lead to difficulties and emergency situations during firefighting. Therefore, the development of frost-resistant sealing rings is a pressing issue. To extend their service life and improve aging resistance, it is necessary to incorporate anti-aging agents into the rubber compound formulation.

The aim of the research is to identify a suitable anti-aging agent for the formulation of frost-resistant sealing rings made from SKD-V butadienе rubber, designed for use in fire hoses and hydrants.

Objectives:
1. Determination of the effect of anti-aging agents on the properties of rubber compounds based on SKD-V butadienе rubber.
2. Investigation of the physico-mechanical and structural properties of elastomers.
3. Testing of the manufactured sealing rings based on the developed formulation under real operating conditions at the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and JSC “Vodokanal”.

Objects and methods of research. The study examined the elastic-strength properties, wear resistance, water resistance of the specimens, hardness, residual compressive deformation, thermal aging resistance and structural properties.

Results and their discussion. Antioxidants improved the elastic-strength properties, presumably due to the stabilization of the polymer network. However, when using IPPD, leaching and water discoloration were observed. Thermal aging reduced the elasticity of the specimens by 32–56 %, while combined systems demonstrated lower degradation, confirming their effectiveness. Laboratory and field tests verified the performance of the developed sealing rings in Arctic conditions in accordance with the UHL-1 climate category.

Conclusions. A frost-resistan.rubber compound was developed in the course of the study. A combination of anti-aging agents, Naftam-2 and Acetonanil, was selected.

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