Welcome

Revolution in the sealing industry

Upstream Pumping Technology

Rotate 2006
Conventional Seal
Up Stream Pumping
 Flow

Barrier fluid pressure

Process pressure

Maximum pressure
Up Stream Pumping Concept

Rotation
Up Stream Pumping Seal Movie

JC_usp_standard_06.exe
Up Stream Pumping Seal

Up Stream Pumping rate Vs Speed, viscosity
Support system
Up Stream Pumping

Process
Pressure

Barrier
Atmos

Up-Stream Pumping action Minimal leakage

Up Stream Pumping

Tandem

1. Process into barrier fluid

PRESSURE

2. Low pressure barrier fluid

Up-Stream No product circulation

Pumping No contamination of
barrier fluid
1. Barrier fluid into process Low to zero emission
2. Low pressure barrier fluid
Up Stream Pumping

Pressurised
double

1. Barrier fluid into process

2. High barrier pressure

Eliminates
Up-Stream
Pumping pressurised barrier
fluid
1. Barrier fluid into process Reduced requirement
2. Low barrier pressure of cooling
Up Stream Pumping

Up Stream Pumping Applications

APPLICATION ADVANTAGE
Food and drugs No contamination from wear
Fine abrasive slurries Non-contacting faces lubricated by clean barrier fluid
Multiphase/phase Stable barrier fluid maintains lubrication
change
Low lubricity/high Non-contacting faces lubricated by clean barrier fluid
vapour pressure
Variable conditions Zero wear of USP seal plus reduced wear outboard
seal
High speed P.V. heat generation and flush rate reduced
Toxic or hazardous No product leakage to barrier fluid or atmosphere
liquids
Water Injection

Seawater Safety Environment Technical

Temperature 7-10 C
Pressure 5-15 barg
Clean, no solids
No hazardous substances

Single Seal usually OK

Water Injection
Produced Water Sealing Solutions

Conventional Seal
Water Injection - Effects on the Seal

Common Inorganic scales

Calcium carbonate. (As found in kettles)

Sulphates; usually formed as the result of mixing high sulphate
seawater with produced water high in barium and strontium.
Barium sulphate.
Strontium Sulphate.
Iron Sulphide: Corrosion either from pipe work / risers or metal
bearing rock reacting with Sulphide present in produced water.
Can self ignite when it dries out (Pyrophoric FeS).
Produced Water Sealing Solutions

Seal Selection Considerations

Technical, safety and environmental issues should all be considered

during the seal selection process. The chosen sealing solution should
provide reliable operation whilst satisfying all safety and
environmental concerns.

Technically the pumped liquid is required to provide good cooling and

lubrication to the mechanical seal faces for reliable seal performance.
If the pumped liquid does not provide this it must be done by other
means.

Legislation does not allow produced water emissions to atmosphere

and therefore this also guides us to using a high integrity dual
pressurised seal arrangement.
Produced Water Sealing Solutions

Typical Produced Water Duty

Liquid Produced Water
Contaminates Sand, Oil, HC gasses, H2S
TDS 70,000 mg/l
SG 1.03
Temperature 60 - 90 Degrees C
Suction Pressure 8 Bar g
Discharge Pressure 200 Bar g
Design Pressure MAWP
Hazards (Safety/Environmental)
Flammable, Toxic,
Speeds 15 m/s - 50 m/s
Shaft sizes 90 mm - 130 mm
Existing Technology & Application

Single Seal - API plan 11

Upsides
Simple and low cost
Easily maintained
Small footprint
Downsides
Less tolerant to solids
Less tolerant to scale
Crystallisation / Hang up
Safety
Existing Technology & Application

Dual Seal - API plan 52

Upsides
Increased safety
Leakage containment
Condition monitoring
Downsides
More expensive
Requires more
maintenance
Susceptible to scale and
solids
Larger footprint
Complex piping and
cooling
Existing Technology & Application

Pressurised Dual Seal - API plan

53 & 54
Upsides
Maximum safety
Zero product leakage
Condition monitoring
Prevents oxygen ingress
Downsides
More expensive
Requires more
maintenance
Larger footprint
Complex piping and cooling
Reverse pressure issues
Up Stream Pressurising in Service

Low Pressure USP seals have been in operation for 15 years

400 services globally
Application

Test Separator
Shaft Size: 75 mm
Speed: 3600 rpm
Product: Crude Oil & Produced Water
Temperature: 47.8 C
S.G. 0.901 - 1.03
Suction Pressure: 17.59 bar g (Tested to 40 bar)
Discharge Pressure: 35.09 bar g
Barrier Fluid: Filtered seawater
Barrier Pressure: 2 bar g
Barrier Flow Rate: 5 - 10 l/min
Types of design

2 main seal designs for USP technology

Light to medium duty

Applications below 20 bar
Over 1000 supplied and fitted
Types of design

Complex heavy duty

High performance, more demanding applications like sea water
injection, ore slurries and multiphase, etc.
High Pressure
Up Stream Pressurising

Effective seal interface cooling

ALT grooves

Barrier Fluid

Process
Fluid

Circulation Sleeve guides barrier fluid to faces

enhancing face cooling
High Pressure
Up Stream Pressurising

Effective seal interface distortion management

By careful design of the face
cross-sections, pressure Pressure Rotation
rotation can be accurately
controlled.

A slight concave rotation is

desirable to ensure zero
leakage during static
conditions.

Total pressure rotation is only

1 light-band at 40 bar g.

CSTEDY
High Pressure
Up Stream Pressurising

Effective seal interface distortion management

During dynamic
operation, slight convex
thermal rotation occurs.
This balances concave
pressure rotation leading
to a near parallel sealing
gap.

CSTEDY
High Pressure
Up Stream Pressurising
Optimisation of Groove Geometry

Film Thickness
USP

Fluid Pressure
USP
High Pressure
Up Stream Pressurising

Optimisation of Groove Geometry

Tangential Average Pressures

Up Stream Pumping Technology
High Pressure
Up Stream Pressurising

Optimisation of Groove Geometry

Up Stream Pumping Rate Compared Against Product Pressure

Typically 0.002%
of pump flow
USP testing

Product - seawater 55 C - 5 to 20 bar

Speed 3600 rpm
Product contamination 20% sand
Barrier fluid - seawater
Over 1000 hours laboratory test duration
High Pressure Up Stream Pumping

Water Injection Testing

Testing on sand
20% sand by volume
USP Seal Testing

After testing the assembly was The slurry appears grey in

stripped down, revealing the colour. This is due to
slurry-like sealed product. abrasion of the steel test
adaptors.
Testing on Slurry

Face Condition after Slurry Testing

Summary and Advantages of Up Stream Pumping

1. The USP concept allows for a positive clean barrier liquid flow
across the inboard seal face to lubricate and cool at all pump
conditions regardless of the quality of the pumped liquid. This is
especially important in difficult and high performance applications
where the lubricity of the pumped fluid may be in question.

2. Seal leakage to atmosphere is significantly reduced when

compared to a pressurised dual seal as the outboard seal is only
working on a minimal pressure differential.

3. The material pressure velocity limits applied to the inboard seal

can be ignored as USP technology ensures full face lubrication
during dynamic operation.
Summary and Advantages of Up Stream Pumping

4. Power consumed by the seal arrangement is significantly reduced when compared to

conventional dual pressurized or unpressurized arrangements. Full face lubrication removes
the frictional heat component when calculating power figures, giving greatly reduced inboard
consumption figures, and a low load outboard seal operating across a minimal pressure
differential ensure power consumption figures are up to 50% (or better) less than conventional
cartridges.

5. To resist the effects of clogging, seal hang-up and abrasion, the seal has a very
smooth outer product wetted surface, which can be improved further with the use of
an excluder.

6. Springs should always be out of the product and stationary.

7. Careful inboard seal designs ensure the seal components are always subjected to
compressive stresses, so giving a very large increase to the factor of safety.

8. The barrier fluid should always be clean, lubricating, and below 15 cP, however
filtered low pressure seawater may be utilized in a positive loss system if appropriate.

.
Summary and Advantages of Up Stream Pumping

9. The reduced power consumption of the USP design greatly reduces heat
generation; scaling effects if present in the pumped product (or the
barrier) are also therefore reduced.

10. In all cases should sealing integrity of the inboard seal be lost the
outboard seal will safely operate under full duty conditions
An Ideal Water Injection Solution ?

Key characteristics of a successful Water

Injection seal solution?

Simple Small footprint

Tolerant to scale and solids
Non complex seal support systems
Low heat generation
Resists hang up
Minimised oxygen ingress
Low operating cost
Enhanced uptime
Up Stream Pumping

A Solution for :
Water Re-injection
Multiphase
MOL
Entrained solids and Abrasives
Small footprint requirements
In use with the worlds leading oil technology companies,
including BP,Qatar Petroleum, Ras Gas,Total etc.
Up Stream Pumping - The Future

Seals available for applications up to 70 bar stuffing box pressure

Seals being developed for still higher stuffing box pressures.

Conclusion

Bringing Gas Seal Technology to wet seals

ENVIRONMENT - Reduced power requirements and environmental

contamination.

RELIABILITY - Non-contacting - ultimate reliability

RELIABILITY - Simple solution- eliminates costly pressurised support

systems

RELIABILITY -Self regulating - tolerant to process upsets

RELIABILITY - Ability to handle Slurries and Scaling Liquids

USP seal for MOL Pump
 Excellent performance in worst condition in MOL

1 2

1. Pipe line blocked due to solids.

2. Stuffing box face is damaged
but JC T bush is intact.
3. Stuffing box end face damage.
Excellent performance in worst condition in MOL

1. 2

1. Damaged pig and solids seen near the pipe line.

2. Spiral grooved face was found in excellent condition
Thank You