Abstract:
A seal assembly (10) is provided to seal a pressure vessel (12) and an adjacent enclosure (13). A metal support ring (11) configured to contact a first sealing surface (14) and a second sealing surface (15) when installed in a pressure vessel, is provided with a low friction coating with transferable low friction additives which results in the transfer of a solid lubricant film onto the vessel wall enclosure. Two polymer seals (17, 18) are provided adjacent the metal support ring (11) and the pressure vessel (12) and enclosure (13) respectively, the polymer seals (17, 18) having a configuration and being formed of a high resilience material, to increase the longevity of the seal assembly.