How to increase the lifespan of your cartridge mechanical seals

Cartridge mechanical seals are mechanical seals that are designed for single and double end applications that found in an array of industries such as food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and many others that use rotating equipment like pumps and mixers. In turn, their performance impacts operational efficiency, maintenance costs and downtime. But, like any other mechanical component, cartridge mechanical seals have a finite life-span. The positive side is that you can dramatically extend their lifetimes — with reasonably good care, maintenance and operational procedures. We share here some working knowledge and practical advice on how best to maximise the uptime and use of your cartridge mechanical seals such that it remains cost-effective and is reliable.

What Are Cartridge Mechanical Seals?

Before we dive into maintenance strategies, let us take a closer look on what a cartridge mechanical seal is and how cartridge type mechanical seal works. However, cartridge mechanical seals use all the components (seal faces, springs, O-rings, and gland plate) integrated into a compact, self-contained device housed within a single package. The role of a mechanical seal is to seal the rotating piece of equipment against the stationary in order to prevent fluids from leaking.

Cartridge seals are easier to install, aligning directly to remove assembly errors common in traditional component seals. Another advantage of such a design is that they are inherently low pollution and do not require frequent setup, making them a widely-used equipment in all fields such as chemical processing, water treatment, oil & gas, food processing and others.

Important Facts about Keeping Seals For Longer: Kneed

Reasons to Extend the Life of Your Cartridge Mechanical Seals

That’s because replacing seals frequently can be expensive, including productivity, time and labor costs.

Operational Efficiency: Well-functioning seals ensure that machinery operates efficiently, reducing energy consumption and increasing productivity.

Reduced Halting: Durable seals also mean less unscheduled stoppages, keeping the wheels of business turning.

Protection for environment: Proper functioning seals also maintains preventive measure against leakage of hazardous substances and environmental contamination.

You can access these benefits by maximizing the service life of your cartridge mechanical seals with the help of the following.

Strategies that can extend seal life time.

Install and Align Correctly: Step 2

One of the most frequent causes of premature seal failure is improper installation. Even the best cartridge seal in the world can be useless if it is installed incorrectly. Follow these instructions to ensure you install it correctly:

Follow Manufacturer’s Instructions: Each seal has different installation requirements. Always confirm the manufacturer’s specs.

Check for Damage: Before you install, inspect the seal and its parts for damage.

Seal Alignment: Inadequate alignment may cause various types of wear of the faces of the seal. Alignment tools for aligning rotating and stationary components.

Avoid Over-Tightening: Over-tightening can distort the seal components leading it to leak and fail.

Optimize Operating Conditions

The normal operating environment determines the normal lifetime of cartridge mechanical seals. Temperature, pressure, fluid properties, etc., can affect seal performance. What’s one way to optimize these conditions?

Temperature markers The heat can contribute to the degradation of seal materials Ensure that your devices operate within the temperature guidelines.

Control Pressure: Too much pressure can damage the sealing faces. Adhere to all operating guidelines for safety including the use of pressure-relief valves or other devices.

Use the Right Seal Material: Different materials perform best with certain fluids and conditions. Seals, we find to be fine in carbon or silicon carbide materials for fluids where abrasivity is not an issue and that the elastomers used for the opposing seals can be Viton® or even EPDM depending on chemical exposure needed.

Essential Practices for Gas Appliance Maintenance

Preventive maintenance is crucial in extending the lifespan of your cartridge mechanical seals. Design a check-in routine on the results of these fiscal monitoring processes so that you—and the campus—can catch problems before they get out of hand.

Check: Even a tiny leak can indicate that the seal is broken. Repair leaks immediately to minimize any additional damage.

Inspect the Seals Faces: Inspect seals faces for wear, cracks, or scoring. Replace the seal, if needed.

Seal Maintenance: Doing It Right Lubricate Moving Parts: Regular lubrication minimizes the frictional forces acting on the seal components.

Bear Clear from Equipment: Dust, contaminants and abrasiveness will wear the seal down. No buildup and clean the equipment.

Use High-Quality Seals

Cartridge mechanical seals are not all the same. High-grade seals from reputable manufacturers can make a big difference to both longevity and performance.

Choose Trustworthy Brands: Look for seals from trusted manufacturers that provide quality and reliable products.

Industry Standards: Make sure the seals used are classified and meet industry standards for your application.

Consider Custom Solutions: If your operational applications demand this type of design, custom seals can provide the perfect solution to your requirements.

Train Your Team

Most seal failure is due to human, error. Training your maintenance and operations team properly will help you decrease mistakes and promote best practices — which saves you money in the long run!

Ensure They are Engaged in Regular Training: Keep your team members fleet with the most up-to-date installation and maintenance practices.

Case Studies: At first, I wanted to drop some data in this article, but I think some case studies will be better to explain it.

Share Responsibility: Motivate your teammates to assume responsibility, and let them know their weaknesses.

Conclusion

Cartridge mechanical seals are critical components that have a major impact on the performance and reliability of your equipment. Knowing how they work and what can the above recommendations do for you will go a long way in extending their life, saving your pockets and keeping the operations moving at the best standards.

The secret is an excellent installation, optimum operating conditions, adequate maintenance, good seals and highly trained personnel. With these priorities in mind, your cartridge mechanical seals will be durable and reliable, ensuring that your operations are not disrupted in any way.

Make a right choice now, save the life of your seals today for high reduction in downtime, cost and boost in productivity tomorrow.