sealing technology
- December 20, 2019
Ensuring the correct materials are suitable for the application
When working with valves, flanges, and pumps, operators should never be complacent. The wrong gasket or packing in a deadly application could result in loss of life. Ensuring the correct materials are suitable for the application requires special attention because safety is critical. As Gordon DeLeys, compliance assistance specialist at the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), said, “Safety should not be a company priority since priorities in an organization can and usually change. Safety and health need to be a core value of an organization. Safety is really a case of values versus priorities.”
In October 1990, the USS Iwo Jima was heading into port for routine maintenance in Manama, Bahrain. The ship was the first to be designed and built from the keel up as an amphibious assault ship in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, on Sept. 17, 1960.
Small packing leak can turn catastrophic
Valve 2MS-7 was a globe valve in the boiler room, and it needed to be repacked for a small packing leak and reconditioned while in port. The valve was worked on by an outside contractor who had limited understanding of military specifications and procedures.
The mechanic—who had 10 years of experience—decided to replace the fasteners on the bonnet because they were worn. Apparently, the mechanic asked one of the boiler room personnel for new nuts and bolts and was given permission to look through the boiler room’s spare parts bins. He selected four bolts, eight studs and 20 3/4-inch nuts. The mechanic had not noticed that some of the nuts were brass. Because those fasteners were covered with a manufacturer-applied black coating, they were mistaken for the correct grade 4 steel nuts. Closer examination and use of a scratch or magnetic test would have revealed their metal content, but instead the black brass nuts were installed.
The next day the valve was reinsulated with lagging. The foreman had not inspected the work done on 2MS-7.
The valve should have been reassembled using only B-16 steel studs—anything else was a violation of good engineering practice based on the service condition.
When the brass nuts were used on the studs holding down the bonnet of the valve, no one realized this was a critical mistake since the valve was going to be in service above 800 F and the temperature limit for brass is 400 F.
On Oct. 30, 1990, in preparation to get underway and proceed to her operating area, fires were lighted in the boilers of the vessel.
Shortly after, one side of 2MS-7 was initially pressurized with steam generated from Boiler No. 1. Three hours later, valve 2MS-7 was opened to supply steam to the generator that supplied electrical power to the vessel.
As steam at 600 pounds per square inch (psi) and 850 F began flowing through the valve, the brass nuts were expanding at a greater rate than the steel studs. The bolts started losing the strength to secure the bonnet to the valve body. After less than 30 minutes of operation, the valve failed catastrophically.
- November 20, 2019
Wettablility of the Sealing Lip
The optimum function of rotary shaft seals depends on many factors. One of them is the "wettability" of the sealing lip. This parameter plays a particularly important role with synthetic lubricants such as polyglycol. If wetting is too low, not only does wear on the sealing lip increase, but the contact with the rotating shaft can also damage the shaft itself. The engineers at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) and Freudenberg Technology Innovation (FTI) have developed a new coating that forms a flexible bond with the elastomer of the seal and significantly improves wetting with synthetic lubricants.
Thanks to different materials and shapes, radial shaft seals for sealing rotating shafts can be used in a wide variety of industrial applications. What they all have in common is the demand for the lowest possible friction, low wear,
- November 12, 2019
Springs are an integral part of all sealing systems. A simple air cylinder has O-rings to seal in the air, and the O-ring exhibits spring-like qualities to ensure a good seal over a broad temperature range.
But what are the different types of springs and materials in sealing systems? And how do you choose the best for your application?
Metal Springs
Metal springs, such as the Cantilever and Canted Coil spring, are used to energize polymers such as Teflon and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW) to allow sealing in a wide range of temperatures. Selecting the correct spring material is critical to the life of the seal.
Metal energized
- August 06, 2019
Rubber seals are used in numerous industries to prevent the unwanted leakage of liquids and gases in various components such as pumps, valves, pipe fittings, and vacuum seals, to name only a few. However, all seals are not created equally. Rubber seal design consists of several elements to ensure that the seal delivers optimal performance in the given environment.
One of the most common types of industrial rubber seals, the O-ring, relies on mechanical compressive deformation to act as a barrier between mating surfaces, thus restricting the flow of fluid in predetermined areas. Several factors must, therefore, be taken into account in O-ring seal design to sustain the compressive force and maintain an effective seal.
Key Design Considerations
Rubber seals are available in a large number of material compositions, each with its own set of advantages and limitations. The selection of the appropriate material involves the consideration of specific factors including:
- June 13, 2019
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by Dorothy Kern, applications engineering manager for the Parker O-Ring & Engineered Seals Division.
Perhaps you know Parker’s newest EPDM material is EM163-80. Featuring breakthrough low temperature functionality, resistance to all commercially available phosphate ester fluids, and the ability to be made into custom shapes, extrusions, and spliced geometries, EM163-80 represents the best-in-class material for applications needing to seal
- January 24, 2019
Gallagher Fluid Seals helps meters & instruments manufacturer through the design and fabrication of a custom-molded gasket with an engineered profile.
The Problem
Our client’s micro corrector was experiencing water intrusion past the gasket, caused by improper seal material and configuration.
The Approach
Gallagher Applications Engineer Benjamin Mell worked closely with our client to identify & address the issue and suggested sending a sample of the instrument to GFS headquarters. Our engineering team received the hardware and investigated the root cause of the seal failure.
GFS engineers observed that our client’s closed-cell
- January 02, 2019
Gear motors, pumps and stirring units keep process material in constant motion in the process industry’s production facilities. A large number of shaft seals are used at drive shafts to keep liquids securely within the equipment. But leaks may be more likely to occur if the pressure acting on the seals becomes too great. Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has developed a new rotary seal, the Gerromatic, which has a wave-shaped sealing lip. This increases the maximum amount of pressure that can be applied. The sinusoidal contact path also reduces friction and provides self-cleaning, which extends operating life.
In the process industry, including the food and beverage sector, shaft seals used in equipment mostly have a rotation-symmetrical seal lip, which abuts the rotating shaft with a groove-like contact pattern. During wet-running, this can cause the medium to be displaced at the contact surface. The seal then runs in a more or less dry condition, leading to increased friction and higher temperatures. The increased friction increases wear and reduces the efficiency of the equipment. The accompanying rise in temperature is not desirable, especially when the process media are temperature-sensitive. If the seal lip is also exposed to high temperatures at high rotational speeds – for example, due to a process material that applies pressure to the seal lip in a vessel with a stirring unit below it – the lip can fold down on the low-pressure side, which would result in immediate leakage and the seal’s failure.
- May 25, 2017
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team. Original content can be found on Parker’s Blog.
A common question fielded by Parker O-ring Application Engineers is “will a (insert polymer family) O-ring work with (insert chemical mixture).” Not a day goes by where I do not field this question in some way, shape, or form. Which, honestly, makes perfect sense, because chemical compatibility is one of the two most important factors in designing a seal, the other being size. Choosing the right compound can literally make or break your seal and to the general designer, this can be a massive undertaking. There are so many rubber compound families out there and hundreds and hundreds of chemicals, so how can you know whether your seal is going to hold up? Well, today, I hope to give you a simple, and quantitative way to figure that out.
- April 18, 2017
The Engineered Polymer Systems Division of Parker Hannifin Corporation, the global leader in motion and control technologies, has launched a new material, Resilon® 4350 Polyurethane, delivering unmatched high temperature seal performance and reliability for a wide range of applications. This new material extends the high temperature sealing range of polyurethanes by over 20°F.
Parker’s Resilon Polyurethane is the established industry leader in high performance hydraulic sealing systems. This newest addition, Resilon 4350, increases the high temperature operating window from 230°F to 250°F for continuous use in many applications while other critical performance attributes such as wear resistance, extrusion resistance, glass transition temperature, and rebound remain best in class. All of this adds up to a new solution for seal designers as they push the envelope in temperature extremes.
- January 03, 2017
There are a multitude of options when it comes to selecting the most suitable sealing product for your application. And for those who are not familiar with sealing technology, the number of options can be really confusing. Gallagher can help.
We pride ourselves on being “The Seal Specialist”, and our engineering department is ready to help seal your toughest application. But where do you even start? Keep reading to learn more about some of the fundamentals of seal design and fluid power sealing theory from our partners at Parker.