Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Somanchi, Anoop Kumar
Author's Email Address	asoman1@lsu.edu
URN	etd-07082004-095554
Title	A Novel Mechanical Seal Design with Superior Thermal Characteristics
Degree	Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (M.S.M.E.)
Department	Mechanical Engineering
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Michael M Khonsari Committee Chair Su-Seng Pang Committee Member Wen Jin Meng Committee Member Yitshak M Ram Committee Member
Keywords	implanted heat exchangers mechanical seals rotating ring primary ring mating ring double-tier
Date of Defense	2004-08-05
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract A mechanical face seal is an important component of variety of pumps used in chemical, petrochemical and process industry. The primary function of a mechanical seal is to prevent leakage of the process fluid from the pump housing and shaft to the environment. The factors that affect the performance of a mechanical seal to leak are friction, wear and its thermal characteristics. Improving upon the thermal characteristics of a mating ring in a mechanical seal would enhance its performance. Implanting a heat exchanger in the mating ring hold great promise for improving the performance of mechanical seals from the viewpoint of reducing heat at the interface and hence enhance the performance of the mechanical seal. To reveal what affect the implanted heat exchangers can have on the thermal characteristics of different seals, in this thesis, three different designs of mating rings were tested in a test rig and the results were compared to a conventional seal in this thesis. A new design of a mechanical seal with an implanted heat exchanger in its mating ring is reported. The mating ring incorporates an internal channel in which a coolant (either a gas or a liquid) flows to remove heat from the seal face. Prototypes were built and tested in a pump. Results are indicative of effective cooling and improved performance when compared to a conventional seal. A Coating on the mating ring was successfully implemented. A simplified heat transfer analysis using the results of the finite element method is also presented for all the seal designs.
Files	Filename       Size       Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)     28.8 Modem   56K Modem   ISDN (64 Kb)   ISDN (128 Kb)   Higher-speed Access    Somanchi_thesis.pdf 1.20 Mb 00:05:34 00:02:51 00:02:30 00:01:15 00:00:06