Sealing Concept

John Crane
Why Rotating Equipment Needs a Seal?

>> to prevent fluid leakage to the atmosphere between the rotating

shaft and the stationary housing filled with liquid or gas
John Crane
Old Style Sealing Using Packing

Gland Packing Fluid injection at

1bar above
Positive suction pressure
product
pressure
Leakage

Leakage of
flush into
product

John Crane
Old Style Sealing Using Packing

Advantages:
Inexpensive sealing medium
Many different types available
Ease of temporary repair
Considered easy to use / install

Limitations:

Must leak to work effectively

Dilution of process from flush water
Runs on shaft/sleeve causing
D Wear
D Friction
D Power loss
Requires regular adjustment

With todays emission regulations and productivity goals, is this a good solution?

John Crane
Typical Sealing Systems

Basic Seal construction 1 Basic Seal construction 2

Basic Seal construction 3 Basic Seal construction 4 John Crane

Typical Sealing Systems

Mechanical Seal
Cartridge Structure
Basic Seal
Shaft Sleeve Collar

Gland Plate
John Crane
Why Use Mechanical Seal?

Pump Casing

Process Fluid

Modern rotating equipment use mechanical seal to meet emission regulations and
productivity goals
John Crane
Packing vs Mechanical Seals
Packing
Is not a seal but rather a restricting
device. Requires leakage or it will
burn.
Will groove and wear shafts and
sleeves.
High horsepower load to overcome
friction.
Product loss.
Requires large amounts of water.
Requires maintenance time and
downtime for installations and
packing adjustments.
Equipment damaged and destroyed
from leakage.
Mechanical Seal
Will seal with invisible leakage. On difficult
applications the leakage ratio between
seals and packing is 1 to 100 or better.
Seals have been known to run 8 to 10
years without failure.
Monetary savings from little to no product
loss, water savings and energy savings.
Little maintenance required after initial
installation.
Seals offer better safety when sealing
potentially hazardous materials.
John Crane
Minimum Costs Of Sealing

Gland Packing Cartridge Seal

1 2 3 Year 1 2 3
100 100 100 Cost Per Gland 900 0 0
300 300 300 Cost To Re-Pack
Cost To Fit Seal 100 0 0
100 100 100 Cost To Adjust 0 0 0
300 300 300 Cost To Replace Sleeve 0 0 0
10 10 10 Cost Of Water Loss 0 0 0
200 200 200 Cost Of Cleaning 0 0 0
1000 1000 1000 Cost Of Power to 200 200 200
Overcome Friction
Product Re-Heat Costs 0 0 0
2010 2010 2010 Total Costs 1200 1200 1200
TYPICAL SAVING 810 810 810
John Crane
Minimum Cost Of Sealing
Sealing Options
Cartridge seals are designed by
John Crane with benefits which are
additional to the already accepted
high quality performance of our
conventional mechanical seals.
Sealing Options - Cartridge Seals
Benefits
 Preset To Their Working Length.
 Eliminate Fitting Errors.
 Keeps Contact Faces Clean As
Seal Is Assembled At Our Factory.
 Seals Pressure Tested
Throughout Manufacture.
 Easy To Fit.
 Reduced Spares.
 Rationalisation Of Sealing
Systems.
Systems
John Crane
Where Mechanical Seal is used??
Any Rotating Equipment handling liquid or gas such as :
Mixers Pumps
Propeller shafts

Gas turbines Steam turbines

Compressors

Gearbox

Centrifuges
John Crane
How A Mechanical Seal Work?
1 Light Band
Rotating Stationary Face, Seat Secondary = 0.0000116
and Springs Seals
assembly assembly inches
= 0.000294 mm

The seal faces are lapped very flat

( 1 to 2 lightbands)
A very thin fluid film ( 3 to 5 microns) is
formed and served the following purposes: separation
D to separate the two sliding faces
D to lubricate the sliding faces Lubricant
D to reduce friction / heat generation
D to prevent fluid leakage to the atmosphere Heat
John Crane
The Sealing Interface

Human Hair
60 microns
separation

Face
Lubrican
Lubrican
tt
Fluid Film
3 to 5 microns
heat
Seat
Vapour > emission
(Invisible leakage)

Mechanical seal has normal leakage but not visible because the liquid at
the ID of the film will vaporised slowly in very small quantity - emission

John Crane
The Sealing Interface

Shape:
Convex Concave

Fluid Film:
Face Separation Contact

Fluid Property:
Some liquids are easier to vaporise,
some are more stable when
temperature increases Flashing Non-flashing
John Crane
What are the users expectations on
mechanical seal?

1. Exceptional performance throughout the life of the equipment. The

complete pumping system must run when it is needed & last a long time.
2. The pump must operate safely & existing regulations while reducing cost.
3. Running a plant with fewer operators & mechanics.

1. Mechanical seal must be carefully selected for each application to

achieve the design reliability because pump and seal systems are
vital to a plants operation.
2. User must ensure that mechanical seal operate properly to give an
acceptable seal life.

John Crane
How To Achieve Acceptable Seal Life?

When the primary ring rotates

against the mating ring,
rubbing and viscous shear
generates

between the seal faces.

Heat generation can cause:

D Over-heating of seal materials
D Vaporisation of process fluid
D Unstable face conditions
D Increased face wear
D Reduced seal life

John Crane
How To Achieve Acceptable Seal Life?
pressure
liquid
phase
vapour
phase

e
e

an
an

ne
op

ta
eth

pr

bu
T
X

temperature
Fluid Property:
Some liquids are easier to vaporise, some are more stable
when temperature increases

Vapour Suppression By:

Reducing Temperature (Cooling)
Increasing Pressure
John Crane
How To Achieve Acceptable Seal Life?

Example The pressure at which a liquid will flash into a vapor at a

given temperature

Vapor -- -- -- -- -- Vapor
pressure ---Water--- pressure
curve
-- --- -- ---

~~~
13.8 bara is required

~
~~
13.8 bara to prevent water from boiling at 200 C
(200 psia)

The boiling point

Steam
of water is 100 C
1.013 bara at atmospheric pressure
(14.7 psia)

Temperature
0 C 100 C 200 C
(32 F) (212 F) (392 F)
Higher pressure is required to avoid boiling at higher temperature
John Crane
How To Achieve Acceptable Seal Life?

Increase
seal chamber pressure
to increase
temperature margin
Pressure
Pumping
Temperature Vapor
pressure
curve
2 X
API 682
Seal chamber
1
Recommend
50 psi(3.5 bar) pressure
minimum

~
~
~
Differential Pressure

Vapor
Liquid Vapor
pressure
at pumping
temperature Temperature
John Crane
How To Achieve Acceptable Seal Life?

Heat Transfer
By Conduction
By Convection

Lubrication must be provided by

a thin film of liquid between seal faces

To achieve acceptable seal life:

1. The seal faces must be lubricated and the heat removed.
2. The fluid between the seal face will not vaporised or disappeared

Flushing helps to achieve acceptable seal life by

1. Removes heat
2. Replenishes cool clean lubricating liquid
John Crane
 MECHANICAL SEAL
BASIC COMPONENTS
AND MATERIAL

John Crane
Flexible Member Springs
Springs

Face
Face Metal
Metal Parts
Parts Seat
Seat
(Primary
(Primary Ring)
Ring) (Hardware)
(Hardware) (Mating
(Mating Ring)
Ring)
John Crane
Flexible Member

COMMON MATERIALS :

1. Nitrile (Buna N) : -65F to +225F

2. Chloroprene : -40F to +212F
3. EP Ruber (EPDM) : -50F to +300F
4. Flourocarbon (Viton) : -10F to +400F
5. Perflouroelastomer : -40F to +550F
6. Pure PTFE (Teflon) : -40F to +475F
7. Glass Filled PTFE : -125F to +
575F

John Crane
Face (Primary Ring)

Common Materials :

1. Resin Carbon
2. Antimony Carbon
3. Silicon Carbide Coated Graphite
4. Tungsten Carbide
5. Sintered Silicon Carbide
6. Glass Filled PTFE

John Crane
Metal Parts (Hardware)

COMMON MATERIALS :

1. 316 SS
2. 17-4 PH SS
3. Duplex SS
4. FV520B SS
5. Alloy C-276
6. Monel
7. Titanium

John Crane
Seat (Mating Ring)

COMMON MATERIALS :

1. Nickel Bonded Tungsten Carbide

2. Cobalt Bonded Tungsten Carbide
3. Sintered Silicon Carbide
4. Reaction Bonded Sil. Carbide
5. 99.5% Aluminium Oxide Ceramic
6. Austenitic Cast Iron (Ni-Resist)

John Crane
Springs

COMMON MATERIALS

1. 316 SS
2. Alloy C-276
3. Monel

John Crane
Secondary Sealing Elements
Temperature Range

287C / 287C /
600F 550F 550F 316C
204C / 204C /
400F 400F
400F 149C / 204C
121C / 300F
250F

93C
200F

-18C
0 -29C / -20F -29C / -20F
-54C / -45C / -50F -40C / -40F
-65F
-200F -129C

-400F -212C / -350F -240C

Buna-N EPDM VitonTM KalrezTM AflasTM TeflonTM

John Crane
Metal Parts material
MATERIAL COMPOSITION ( % OF EACH ELEMENT )

304 SS 18-20 Chrome, 8-12 Nickel, .08 Carbon, 64-70 Iron, 1 Silicon, 2 Manganese,
.030 Sulphur, .045 Phosphorus

316 SS 16-18 Chrome, 10-14 Nickel, .08 Carbon, 62-71 Iron, 1 Silicon, 2 Manganese,
2-3 Molybdenum, .030 Sulphur, .045 Phosporus

20 SS 20 Chrome, 29 Nickel, .07 Carbon, 44.18 Iron, 1 Silicon, .075 Manganese,

2 Molybdenum, 3 Copper

Monel 63-70 Nickel, 24-31 Copper, .30 Carbon, 2.50 Iron, .50 Silicon, 2 Manganese,
.024 Sulphur, Trace of Cobalt

Hastelloy B 64 Nickel, 1 Chrome, .12 Carbon, 5 Iron, .70 Silicon, .80 Manganese,
28 Molybdenum, 2.50 Columbium

Hastelloy C 53 Nickel, 16-50 Chrome, .15 Carbon, 5 Iron, .70 Silicon, .80 Manganese,
17 Molybdenum, 4 Tungsten 2.50 Cobalt

Titanium 99.03 Titanium, .10 Carbon, .40 Iron, .50 Nitrogen, .40 Oxygen,
.015 Hydrogen

Nickel 99 Nickel, .15 Iron, .05 Silicon, .10 Copper, .05 Cobalt

Tatalum 99.81 Tatalum, .013 Nickel, .027 Carbon, .015 Iron, .20 Silicon, .01 Tungsten,
.012 Titanium, .044 Columbium, .014 Nitrogen, .007 Hydrogen, .027 Oxygen John Crane
 Mechanical & Physical Properties
Carbon Carbon Alumina Tungsten Tungsten Silicon
Sintered
Graphite - Graphite - PTFE 25 % Oxide Carbide - Carbide - Carbide
Stellite 1 Ni - Resist Silicon
Resin Antimony Glass 99.5% Cobalt Nickel Reaction
Carbide
Filled Filled Ceramic Binder Binder Bonded

Density (kg/m3) 1800 2500 2250 8690 7300 3870 14700 14700 3100 3100

Young Modulus (GN/m2) 23 33 na 248 96 365 630 600 413 390

Bending Strength (MN/m2) 65 90 na na na 320 1750 1700 500 450

Tensile Strength (MN/m2) 41 48 12 - 20 618 200 na na na na na

Thermal Conductivity
9 20 0.4 15 40 30 80 70 200 70
(W/mK)

Hardness (HV) na na na 600 150 1800 1500 - 1600 1300 - 1500 2500 - 3500 2500

Thermal Expansion
0 -6 3 3.5 44 -92 11.3 19 6.9 5.1 4.8 4.3 4.8
Coefficient (1/ C x 10 )
John Crane