Why don’t my PTFE gaskets seal FRP, plastic and other light load flanges?
Topic Sponsor
Top Seals Articles
Find a reliable dry gas seal system for any application.
First of Six Parts
Follow the major developments in seal technology
This month's "Sealing Sense" was prepared by FSA member Larry Sheffield.
Proper safety precautions for selecting, installing and maintaining seal systems
Plan 12 is similar to a Plan 11. The flush is taken off of the pump discharge, or and intermediate stage in the case of multiple stage pumps, through a strainer or filter to remove solids, and then through an orifice to control flow, before being introduced into the seal chamber.
Understanding how labyrinth seals function is imperative to ensure the appropriate seal technology is specified. Seal selection, when matched appropriately to the expected application and environment to which the equipment will be exposed, will directly impact seal life, productivity and total maintenance costs. Armed with this knowledge, users are encouraged to work with seal manufacturers to match seal technologies appropriately with application needs.
A combination of two seal types provides the most reliable results.
A major concern of U.S. petroleum refineries and chemical process plants is regulatory compliance. Federal, state, special regulatory district and consent decree mandates require compliance of all regulations with the 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA). Petroleum refineries were an early priority target for the EPA. It is likely that chemical process plants will become the next focus of EPA attention.
In the February 2010 issue of Pumps & Systems, I wrote an article on my Excel-based Suction Specific Speed and Suction Energy calculators and how they can be used to predict the onset of suction recirculation.
Latest Seals Articles
Why don’t my PTFE gaskets seal FRP, plastic and other light load flanges?
Find a reliable dry gas seal system for any application.
First of Six Parts
Follow the major developments in seal technology
This month's "Sealing Sense" was prepared by FSA member Larry Sheffield.
Proper safety precautions for selecting, installing and maintaining seal systems
The conformability, flexibility and wide range of material combinations and designs enable packing to seal many difficult, unconventional applications. These capabilities, coupled with other packing systems components, can provide effective sealing solutions that reduce the consumption of valuable water and energy resources.
As we learned last month, carbon/graphite fiber packings have proven to be effective solutions to many common sealing applications. This time, we have learned that flexible graphite packings appear to have become the packings of choice when sealing fugitive emissions, high heat media, and rotating equipment with limited cooling or flush available.
The oil and gas market has remained remarkably stable recently, bolstered by the high price of oil and strong worldwide demand. With refining capacity finite and political unrest in major oil producing countries such as Venezuela, Angola and Iran, the price may rise even higher.
ePTFE /Graphite packing tolerates a wide range of service conditions and has the capabilities inherent in PTFE while overcoming limitations of low thermal conductivity. These characteristics of ePTFE enable standardization of packing to simplify operations and improve productivity in many cases.
Gasket stress is a term commonly used to describe the unit load on its surface. It is one of the most important parameters of a bolted joint because it directly impacts the ability of the gasket to seal.
Columns and Blogs
In this multi-part series, we will investigate several aspects of centrifugal pump efficiency.
First of Five Parts
Since the original publication of this draft standard in the January 2008 issue of Pumps & Systems, I have received feedback, encouragement, numerous questions and criticism. The draft listed three basic levels of repair.
The McGraw-Hill scientific dictionary [5] states that a volute is "a spiral casing for a centrifugal pump... designed so that speed will be converted to pressure."
