seal flush iping plan & quench
seal flush iping plan & quench
(OP)
I'd like to know about seal flushing and quench system used for a centrifugal pump. I have studied API 610, app.D, but I'd like to know how and based on which condition a seal flush plan is selected. when a quenching is also required?
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance





RE: seal flush iping plan & quench
Before you start to select or evaluate centrifugal pump mechanical seals, I strongly advise you to obtain and read the background material on how the mechanical seal is designed and classified - such as the excellent "Dura Seal Manual" issued by Durametallic Corp. of Kalamazoo, Michigan; USA.
It is imperative that you understand the fundamentals of mechanical seal operation and design before you undertake to select the proper type of seal flushing to be employed. There are mechanical seals and then there are "other mechanical seals":
1) Seals can be single or double;
2) Seals can be pusher or non-pusher seals;
3) Seals can be balanced or unbalanced;
4) There are Inside seals, Outside seals, Double seals, Tandem seals, Cartridge seals, etc., etc.
So before you even contemplate which API Plan you should use in your application and which fluid is adequate, you should know exactly what you are applying it on.
I'm afraid a tutorial on mechanical seal flushing is not going to be efficiently obtained on this forum. Now, if you ask a specific question on a specific application and supply all the basic data and information required, then we can supply you with recommendations - but you would be well advised to be thoroughly knowledgeable in mechanical seal design and operation in order to decipher what the experienced responses will say. So my recommendation of studying the Dura Seal Manual still stands.
Good Luck.
Art Montemayor
Spring, TX
RE: seal flush iping plan & quench
1. Durametallic is now owned by Flowserve, and I think they stopped publishing that handbook. If you can find one, Montemayor's right, it's a great book. I 'inherited' mine from an engineer who was cleaning out his bookshelf. One good one if you're starting from scratch on seals is "Mechanical Seal Principles Manual", published by Chesterton, www.chesterton.com.
2. Be careful referencing API 610 for seal info - when API 610 9th edition came out in 2003, they extracted everything relating to seals, including Appendix D. 9th edition defers to API 682 for seal requirements. Technically the seals are no different, all the seal flush/barrier/quench plans are numbered the same, but the old API 610 seal coding (i.e. "BSTFN") is being phased out in favour of 682's coding terminology. Also, it requires balanced construction in all seals, so there's no such thing (supposedly) as an unbalanced API 610 pump seal as of 9th edition. That said, every pump & seal vendor I deal with still knows the old pre-9th edition codes and uses both on quotations.
RE: seal flush iping plan & quench
A seal Quench is a product supplied to the atmospheric side of a mechanical seal (such as cool water). A water quench can help reduce the amount of heat transmitted from a hot product being pumped to the pumps bearing frame. A steam or water quench can be used to keep product from oxidizing or reacting with oxygen on the atmospheric side of the seal faces by replacing the atmosphere with steam or water. The oxidized product can hang the seal up ( keep it from adjusting to shaft movement) causing a leak. Those are some of the most common uses of a seal quench. But there are many other uses for quenches such as a steam quench to keep the seal faces warm on temperature sensitive applications like pumping asphalt. It would keep the faces from being glued together by the asphalt when the pump is shut down.
Good luck in finding a good source for information!
Regards Checman
RE: seal flush iping plan & quench