Sterling Seal Buna N or Nitrile, is a copolymer of butadiene and acrylonitrile. Acrylonitrile content is varied in commercial products from 18% to 48%. As the nitrile content increases, resistance to petroleum base oils and hydrocarbon fuels increases, but low temperature flexibility decreases. Due to its excellent resistance to petroleum products, and its ability to be compounded for service over a temperature range of -65 to + 275 degrees F (- 54 to +135 degrees C), Nitrile is the most widely used elastomer in the seal industry today. Most military rubber specifications for fuel and oil resistant MS and AN O-rings require nitrile base compounds. It should be mentioned, however, that to obtain good resistance to low temperature with nitrile compounding, it is almost always necessary to sacrifice some high temperature fuel and oil resistance. Nitrile compounds are superior to most elastomers with regard to compression set or cold flow, tear and abrasion resistance. Inherently, they do possess good resistance to ozone, sunlight or weather but this can be substantially improved through compounding. However, since ozone and weather resistance are not always built in, seals from nitrile bases should not be stored near electric motors or other equipment which may generate ozone, or in direct sunlight. ORBN006x1000