Maintenance Cycle Reduction Time and Energy Savings of Mechanical Face Seals Using Thermodynamic FEM Analysis

The lifetime cost evaluation of a seal must take into account all expenses throughout its operation. The thermodynamic aspects of mechanical face seals (MFSs) analyzed using FEM for various pairs of materials and their correlation with wear, reliability, and economic feasibility have not been researched in the literature. The MFSs analyzed in this paper were manufactured by ROSEAL S.A. for use in water pumps. The materials of the primary seal rings used by manufacturers were taken into account. The operating conditions were as follows: n = 3000 rpm, water temperature = 80 °C, and pressure = 0.1 MPa. In our study, we focused on the thermodynamic phenomena occurring in the MFS. The thermodynamic simulation was run using the FEM software MSC Nastran. Maps of the temperatures and the heat flow in the primary seal rings, for the two types of MFS and for different pairs of materials, were obtained using FEM analysis. The results highlight that the flow rate of leaks increases linearly with the angular speed of the pressure ring and is independent of the materials used in the primary seal.