Reciprocating Compressor Piston Sealing Assembly for Uniform Wear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sealing rings in reciprocating compressors experience premature wear and loss of sealing capacity due to uneven wear distribution and the presence of a protruding element that wears rapidly, leading to frequent replacements and reduced operational lifespan.
Innovation Solution
A piston design featuring a sealing assembly with complementary sealing elements made of materials like carbon-filled polytetrafluoroethylene or boron nitride, arranged in pairs with non-radial, non-parallel planes and sliding guides, which distribute wear evenly and maintain a continuous seal by moving radially outward as they wear, along with a check hole to indicate when replacement is necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional sealing ring with a protruding element is used to ensure sealing in the ring-shaped seat, then the seal is maintained during compression stroke, but the protruding element wears rapidly and the sealing capacity is lost after about a quarter of the radial thickness is worn
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing ring is divided into multiple independent sealing elements (first sealing element, second sealing element, third sealing element, fourth sealing element) arranged sequentially around the circumferential perimeter. Each element can wear independently without causing complete seal failure, extending the operating life cycle while maintaining reliable sealing capacity throughout the compression stroke.
2Ease of manufacture
If the sealing ring is designed with a discontinuity and radially outer protruding element for mounting purposes, then the sealing ring can be easily mounted in the ring-shaped seat, but the protruding element is subjected to more intense wear and wears rapidly
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing ring is segmented into multiple independent sealing elements, eliminating the need for a single protruding element. This segmentation allows each element to be mounted independently or as a group without creating stress concentration points, while maintaining continuous sealing capacity and preventing rapid wear at any single location.
Solution Approach 2:
Each sealing element is given uniform thickness and material properties throughout, eliminating the local thinning that occurs at protruding elements. This ensures that all elements have equal wear resistance and sealing capability, preventing the intense wear that plagues conventional protruding elements while maintaining ease of mounting.
3Device complexity
If the sealing ring is housed in a ring-shaped seat without angular orientation capability, then the sealing ring can be simply installed, but the wear load cannot be distributed in predefined or preferable areas of the ring
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing ring is divided into multiple separable sealing elements that can be independently positioned and oriented within the ring-shaped seat. This segmentation enables the distribution of wear load across different angular positions, allowing elements to be placed in preferable areas with lower wear rates, thereby extending the operating life cycle without significantly increasing structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A piston is described for the compression of a pneumatic fluid in a compression chamber of a cylinder comprising:a cylindrically shaped piston body, adapted to be arranged slidably within said cylinder, and having a side wall and a top wall; along a circumferential perimeter of said side wall of the piston body a seat being defined; anda sealing assembly accommodated in said seat, and adapted to ensure the fluid-tightness along said circumferential perimeter;the sealing assembly comprising a plurality of sealing elements, having shapes complementary to one another, and configured so that the wear of a sealing element along said circumferential perimeter corresponds to a sliding in the radially outer direction of the adjacent sealing element.