Centrifugal Pump Housing With Turbulence-Enhanced Shaft Seal Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centrifugal pumps face challenges in cleanability and contamination safety due to restricted access for cleaning fluids in the regions behind the impeller and shaft seal, necessitating improved performance and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A centrifugal pump housing design with a rear housing part and a sealing arrangement featuring stationary annular seal elements and protrusions that increase fluid turbulence, allowing easier access for cleaning agents and fluids to the sealing arrangement, enhancing cleanability and contamination safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a conventional centrifugal pump housing is used, then the pump structure is simple, but the cleanability in the region behind the impeller and shaft seal is poor due to restricted access for cleaning fluids
Solution Approach 1:
The pump housing is divided into a front housing part and a rear housing part that can be separated from each other. The rear housing part contains the drive shaft opening and sealing arrangement, while the front housing part contains the impeller. This segmentation allows cleaning fluids to access the sealing arrangement region by removing or separating the rear housing part, thereby improving cleanability without complicating the overall manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces axial accessibility by making the rear housing part separable from the front housing part. This creates a new dimension of access (axial direction) for cleaning fluids to reach the sealing arrangement, which was previously only accessible through radial paths. This dimensional change enables thorough cleaning without redesigning the entire housing structure.
2Reliability
If the sealing arrangement is positioned to seal the drive shaft opening, then the pump maintains reliable sealing, but cleaning fluid access to the sealing arrangement is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is segmented into front and rear parts that can be separated axially. The sealing arrangement remains intact in the rear housing part, maintaining its sealing function, while the separation allows cleaning fluids to access the sealing region from the axial direction without compromising the seal's operational integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump is designed to be easily disassembled into separable housing parts for cleaning purposes. This preliminary design consideration allows the sealing arrangement to be accessed for cleaning before reassembly, ensuring that the seal maintains its reliability by being properly cleaned and maintained without requiring structural changes that would compromise sealing.
3Ease of operation
If stationary protrusions are added to increase fluid turbulence, then cleanability and contamination safety are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Stationary protrusions are added locally to the rear housing part surrounding the drive shaft opening, rather than modifying the entire housing structure. These localized protrusions create turbulence in the specific region where cleaning fluids flow past the sealing arrangement, improving cleanability without significantly increasing overall device complexity. The protrusions are simple geometric features that can be integrated into the existing housing design.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The increased turbulence in the sealing arrangement region improves cleanability and reduces contamination risk by ensuring thorough cleaning and reducing stagnant areas, thus improving the pump's operational reliability and safety.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of stationary protrusions integrally formed in the rear housing part or in the sealing retainer, wherein the plurality of stationary protrusions are located in or adjacent the drive shaft opening of the rear housing part for increasing the turbulence of a flow of product fluid in the pump housing adjacent to the sealing arrangement
Data Source
AI summary
A centrifugal pump housing comprises a rear housing part having a drive shaft opening, a front housing part attachable to the rear housing part for forming a pump chamber, and a sealing arrangement for sealing the drive shaft opening. The sealing arrangement comprises a stationary annular seal element that is rotationally locked and that has a stationary plane seal surface facing forwards in the axial direction, and a rotatable annular seal element configured to be rotationally locked. The rotatable annular seal element has a rotatable plane seal surface facing rearwards in the axial direction and configured to sealingly abut against the stationary plane seal surface. Stationary protrusions are integrally formed in the rear housing part or in the sealing retainer, and are located in or adjacent the drive shaft opening for increasing the turbulence of a flow of product fluid in the pump housing adjacent to the sealing arrangement.