Mechanical seals are used to provide a seal between a rotating shaft and a stationary housing of a pump, compressor, turbine, or other rotating machine. End face mechanical seals generally include a primary seal interface comprising two relatively rotatable seal faces. Frictional wear between the seal faces can cause a gap to form therebetween, leading to excessive leakage. Accordingly, some end face seals require regular adjustment in order to maintain the appropriate or axial position of an axially shiftable seal member (also known as “seal height”) in order to account for such wear.
Various biasing mechanisms have been contemplated to provide a closing force to automatically accommodate wear. Such biasing mechanism have included single and multiple coil springs, and metal bellows.
Pusher seal assemblies comprise a dynamic secondary seal (such as an o-ring) to provide a seal between the shaft and the seal members themselves. The dynamic secondary seal of pusher seals is generally configured to move axially with the axially shiftable seal member. This axial movement relative to the shaft can cause fretting or shredding of the secondary seal due to friction.
Non-pusher seals generally feature a secondary shaft seal that is not intended to move axially relative to the shaft, such as an o-ring (generally used with metallic bellows seals), or an elastomeric bellows, an example of which is provided in FIG. 1. The depicted mechanical seal comprises an elastomeric bellows that is driven to rotate with the shaft relative to the housing. This non-pusher seal can reduce torque stress on the bellows, which are intended to contract and expand to balance the opening and closing forces on the seal faces. At high pressures, such as gauge pressures above about 70 bar(g), however, the shaft itself can translate axially. This can create an axial load on the elastomeric bellows which can cause the elastomer to rigidly collapse, as shown in the detail view (where lighter areas are those with higher pressure). This axial rigidity prevents the bellows from effectively counteracting the closing force provided by the biasing members, leading to excess face pressure, frictional wear, and eventual seal failure.
Ongoing demand for improved productivity, reliability, durability and changing envelope requirements for pumps and other rotary shaft equipment dictate continued effort for new developments in seal assemblies. In particular, a need exists for mechanical seals that can operate to seal higher internal pressures. The present disclosure relates to an advance in seal technology that addresses these needs.