Centrifugal Compressor Seals

Wet Seal Wet or Liquid (Oil seals) were the first type of seals used for centrifugal compressor shaft sealing. Wet seals take on the form of a liquid film seal or a contact seal, also known as the mechanical seal . The buffer fluid aids in the sealing process in the liquid film type and acts as coolant on both types. Each compressor manufacturer has his own proprietary design for one or both types of wet seals. The liquid film operates with a close clearance and is used for high-pressure applications. The contact (mechanical seal) can be used under 69 barg (1000 psig). It's design is more complex but it has the advantage of being relatively leak proof, specifically during shutdowns. A wet seal system requires a source for cooling and buffering fluid. In many cases this fluid is lubricating oil. If contamination is not a problem, a combined lube and seal may be used. With wet seals, a value for the allowable leakage toward the gas side must be determined. This liquid is removed from the compressor by traps also called sour oil pots even when the liquid can be recycled Refer the illustrations below for the Liquid film seal and the Mechanical type.

Dry Gas Seal (DGS) Dry gas seals provide positive sealing in the same manner as wet seals and have similar design features as mechanical seal, but with one significant difference. The dry gas seal has shallow grooves cut in the rotating seal face located part way across the face. The grooves may be in a spiral pattern, with the exact location and pattern varying from one manufacturer to another. Lubrication and separation is effected by a microscopically thin film of gas. This means that there is some amount of gas being lost (vented) which though being very small has to be accounted for in the design of the DGS system Due to the very narrow gap between the seal faces (rotating and stationary) the gas should be extremely clean and dry. The tolerance limit for solids often mentioned is maximum solid particle size of 3 microns. However, many compressor specialists say that restricting the solid particle size to less than 1 micron prolongs the DGS seal life significantly. Similarly, liquid droplets entering the extremely narrow space between the rotating and stationary seal face prevents the formation of the required static pressure between the seal faces disturbing the hydrodynamic balance between the seal faces. Good DGS performance is obtained if the seal gas conditioning unit has a liquid removal efficiency of 99.9% Refer the next worksheet 'Dry Gas Seal P&ID' for the gas conditioning unit typical scheme. Some typical illustrations for a Dry Gas Seal system are given below:

Typical Tandem Gas Seal Assembly (Courtesy of John Crane) Dry Gas Seals are now becoming very popular and even in old plants / units where the compressors were provided wet seals originally, lot of retrofitting is being undertaken with dry gas seals. The inherent advantages of DGS over wet seals are provided below: 1. With DGS system, on shutdown, pressurized containment of process gas is possible , reducing plant flaring 2. Properly engineered, dry gas sealing prevents oil contamination of compressed gases. 3. Reduced power consumption (conservatively in the vicinity of 1%). 4. Increased reliability/availability of the process train 5. Predictable rotor characteristic with consistent stability. 6. Reduced foot print for the DGS supply and conditioning system compared to wet seal systems. Additionally the following safety related problems generally associated with wet seal systems are eliminated when using DGS: 1. Seal-oil pump failure with the consequent possibility of gas blowout. 2. Seal blowout caused by an oil-trap float failure, a clogged coalescer, or a sticking buffer-gas regulator. 3. Possibility of a lube-oil tank explosion. Gas escaping from the seal return oil can increase the flammable gas concentration above the lower explosive limit (LEL) when the oil-reservoir breather is clogged or overwhelmed due to excessive gas leakage at seals.

Prepared by: Email:

Ankur Srivastava Chemical Engineer ankur_2061@hotmail.com

Dry Gas Seal System P&I Diagram for Centrifugal compressor

Alternate Supply (Nitrogen) Start-up

PIC

Compressor Discharge (wet gas) VENDOR PACKAGE

High Efficiency Filter Coalescer

H

dPI

RO

RO

FI

FI

dPI Impeller Side

dPI

Bearing Side

Compressor

Notes: 1
Indicates Heat Tracing