MECHANICAL SEALS & THEIR APPLICATION
D. V. Kulkarni.
INTRODUCTION
Any conventional Mechanical Seal consists of two main sub-assemblies – seal head assly &
mating ring assly. Along with these mechanical seal sub- assemblies, we must also know the parts of
equipment which are used to adopt the mechanical seal on a given equipment i.e. gland or seal cover &
shaft protection sleeve.
Any single mechanical seal system has normally five leakage paths as mentioned below.
1. Between Gland Plate Face & stuffing box Face.
2. Between Shaft & Shaft Protection Sleeve.
3. Between Mating Ring & Gland Plate.
4. Between Seal Ring of Seal Head & Shaft Protection Sleeve.
5. Between Stationary & Rotating face.
While designing any mechanical sealing system, we have to carefully look into these leakage paths
& arrest the leakage of liquid / fluid along these paths. First four leakage paths are sealed by using rubber
elastomer or PTFE or any other type of packing. By properly sizing the dimensions of various parts &
maintaining proper surface finishes at sealing joints, we can seal these leakage paths. The most important
is the leakage path between two faces i. e. between mating ring face (part of mating ring assly.) and seal
ring face (part of seal head assly). In the Mechanical Seal, this leakage path is sealed by providing
absolutely flat mating faces perpendicular to the rotating shaft center line where they come in contact &
maintaining healthy lubrication film between the two mating faces. Since both the faces are continuously
moving with respect to each other, there is a heavy heat generation, which keeps on evaporating the liquid
film, & new liquid film is formed. These vapors keep on escaping to the atmosphere continuously. If you
condense these vapors, the quantity of this liquid will be very negligible as compared to the quantity of
liquid being lost to maintain proper gland packing system. Hence mechanical seal is not a zero leakage
seal. There is always invisible leakage in the vapor form between the faces.
Mechanical Seal performance is principally based on the health of the lubrication film between
two faces. To maintain this health of the lubrication film, we have to ensure that the seal generates min.
heat & whatever heat is generated; it should be dissipated very effectively.
To have minimum heat generation from the seal, following points need to be noted while
selecting the seal.
A. For a given situation, size of the seal selected should be the smallest possible.
B. Selection of equipments should be such that the seal box pressure is minimum.
C. Low speed equipments should be used.
D. Seal faces should have min. coefficient of friction.
E. Seals with min. face pressure to be used.
F. Hydraulically Balanced seals to be selected.
To have maximum heat dissipation in the seal area following need to be noted while selecting
the seal & designing the stuffing box cavity.
A. Min. 3 mm clearance, should be maintained between rotating body of seal & stationary part of
the equipment. Larger / taper st. boxes give better heat dissipation.
B. Face material should have better heat dissipation property.
C. Flushing should be used & quenching should be used whenever required.
D. For double seals, system with forced circulation of barrier fluid should be used.
E. Flushing of liquid should be directly on the mating surfaces of the seal.
F. Jacket cooled st. boxes / cooled type mating rings should be used.
G. The seal faces should be completely dipped in the media being sealed.
In some cases flushing & quenching are essential operations for satisfactory functioning of the
seal. Let us understand these operations.
FLUSHING
The operation of supplying continuous flow of fresh, clean & cool liquid to the mechanical seal
faces is known as flushing. This is desired to ensure proper face lubrication & effective heat dissipation.
There are various ways to carry out this flushing operation. These have been given in detail in
standard API 682 meant for Mech. Seals exclusively. Disadvantages of flushing are
1. Wherever self flushing is used then volumetric efficiency of the equipment gets affected &
2. Wherever external flushing is used, flushing liquid gets mixed up into the pumpage & it dilutes
the pumpage.
QUENCHING
To create a barrier between the atmosphere & the seal faces, some other media is allowed to
occupy the space between the seal faces & the atmosphere. This process of keeping the
atmosphere
away from the seal faces is known as Quenching. Quenching also helps face heat dissipation. In some
applications, the atmospheric air creates problems for mechanical seal faces, hence it is necessary
to
keep the atmosphere away. Few such applications are given below.
A. Media (say at –40 Deg. C) when being pumped, condenses the moisture in the atmosphere
& ice is formed below the seal faces hindering its operation.
B. In case of high temperature oils when vapors keep on escaping to the atmosphere, they come
in contact with the Oxygen & get burnt. These carbon partials create problems in the seal area.
C. Some media, when leak into the atmosphere, become viscous & get deposited in the seal area
creating problem for the seal e.g. Tar, DMT etc.
D. Crystallizing media get into crystals when water in it gets vaporized because of the atmospheric
air present below the seal faces. These crystals create problems for the seal faces.
To stop this crystallization, quenching is desired.
AP1 682 explains in detail different methods of quenching.
Since Mech. Seals are being widely used in various chemical industries, refineries, fertilizers
plants, pharmaceutical industries, thermal power plants to save costly leakage of liquid as well as to
minimize health hazards, it is worth discussing here how to get the best from the mechanical seals.
For proper performance of any mechanical sealing system, we have to take care at every stage.
Following stages are involved.
1. Study of the media being sealed.
2. Study of the equipment on which the seal is required.
3. Selection of the seal as per the equipment & media.
4. Installation & Commissioning of the Mechanical Seal.
5. Maintenance of the Mechanical Seal.
1. STUDY OF THE MEDIA
During the study of the media following details are required to select the suitable mechanical seal.
A. The material of hardware, seal faces & elastomers compatible with the media.
B. Whether is it crystallizing / thermo sensitive media?
C. Does it contain slurry? If yes, then what is the % of slurry? What is the size of a particle in the
slurry? Whether the slurry is abrasive? This information is required to decide type of the seal &
material for the seal faces.
D. Temperature of the media to decide the material of the seal & surrounding desired by the seal.
E. Viscosity & density of the media to decide type of the seal.
F.Pressure of liquid to decide type of the seal & the seal arrangement.
G. Lubrication properties of the media to decide whether single seal or double seal is to be used.
H. Whether the media is toxic & hazardous to decide whether single seal or double seal is to be
used.
2. STUDY OF THE EQUIPMENT
A. What is the MOC of the equipment to decide the MOC of the seal?
B What are the equipment dimensions to decide what size of the seal is to be used & whether that
can be accommodated in the available space or any modification is required.
C. Speed of the shaft of the equipment to decide the face materials & the seal arrangement required.
D. The condition of the equipment like amount of shaft axial float, shaft radial play, run out &
square ness of stuffing box face with respect to the shaft centerline to design the suitable seal.
3. SELECTION OF THE SEAL
After studying the media & equipment, the seal selection is done. In selection, following things
are decided.
A. Type of the seal.
B. Metallurgy of the seal.
C. Size of the seal.
D. Type of the seal arrangement i.e. inside mounted or outside mounted, single or double seal then
whether back-to-back, tandem, face-to-face, coaxial or stationary / rotating type seal head.
E. Surrounding for the seal i.e. what API plans to be used.
4. INSTALLATION & COMMISSIONING OF THE MECH. SEAL
During installation of the Mechanical Seal following care is required.
A. Proper hygienic conditions to be maintained.
B. Trained manpower should be used to install & commission the seal.
C. All equipment parameters & dimensions to be ascertained.
D. Use of hammer to be strictly avoided.
E. Operating length of the seal to be maintained as advised in the drawing.
F.All surfaces to be checked for surface finish particularly where gaskets / v-packs / elastomers are
getting assembled.
G. Direction of rotation to be checked for the unidirectional seal.
H. Use of a light coat of oil between the faces and at elastomeric areas on equipment & the seal is
a must.
I. Free rotation of the shaft is to be ensured.
J. Desired API plans to be installed.
K. Static pressure test to be carried out.
L. Alignment of coupling to be checked.
5. MAINTENANCE OF THE MECHANICAL SEALS
Once the seal is installed& commissioned, it needs preventive maintenance. The steps involved are-
A. Ensuring that the equipment works without any abnormal vibrations.
B. Ensuring that the temp. in the seal area in the equipment is not rising abnormally.
C. Ensuring that no abnormal sound is coming from the seal area.
D. Ensuring that flushing liquid & quenching liquid flow rates & pressures are maintained as desired.
E. Whenever heat exchanger is used, ensuring that inlet & outlet temp. are maintained as desired.
F. Whenever filters are used, ensuring that they are cleaned frequently.
G. Ensuring that cavitation doesn’t occur in the pump.
H. Ensuring that any pump problem is attended quickly so that the seal doesn’t get damaged.
