High-Pressure Seal Flushing Flow to Prevent Carbon Buildup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Seal elements in high-pressure applications face challenges with carbon buildup and deposition, leading to reduced service life due to thermal overloading and lubricant penetration, especially in elastomeric materials, which affects sealing efficiency and longevity.
Innovation Solution
A seal arrangement with a flow generator on the high-pressure side that creates a flushing flow through the sealing gap, utilizing a convexly shaped sealing head with a tread and flow elements to enhance lubrication, cooling, and active flushing, preventing carbon buildup by accelerating fluid flow and mixing, thereby improving the sealing zone's condition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If seal elements are used in high-pressure applications with elastomeric materials, then sealing capacity is improved, but carbon buildup and deposition occur leading to reduced service life
Solution Approach 1:
The flow generator creates a flushing flow that actively removes carbon buildup and lubricant deposits from the sealing zone before they can accumulate to harmful levels. This preliminary cleaning action prevents the degradation that would otherwise occur during operation, maintaining seal element elasticity and sealing capacity throughout the service life.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the harmful effect of high-pressure fluid into a beneficial flushing mechanism. The same high-pressure fluid that could cause thermal overloading and carbon buildup is redirected through the flow generator to create a cleaning flow that removes these harmful deposits, turning the problem into a solution.
2Ease of operation
If lubrication is optimized in the sealing zone, then friction is reduced, but thermal overloading and carbon buildup still occur
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses hydraulic principles by channeling the high-pressure fluid through the flow generator to create a directed flushing flow. This hydraulic system delivers cooled lubricant to the sealing zone, simultaneously reducing friction and preventing thermal overloading through continuous fluid replacement and heat carry-away.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow generator changes the flow parameters of the lubricant by creating a directed, high-velocity flushing flow that differs from the normal lubrication flow. This parameter change ensures the lubricant reaches the sealing zone with sufficient momentum to remove carbon buildup while maintaining optimal lubrication conditions.
3Productivity
If seal elements operate at high sliding speeds, then productivity is improved, but carbon buildup accelerates reducing service life
Solution Approach 1:
The flow generator ensures continuous flushing of the sealing zone throughout operation. As the seal element rotates and the flow generator follows, it continuously directs fresh lubricant onto the sealing surface, maintaining constant removal of carbon buildup and preventing accumulation even at high sliding speeds where heat generation and friction are elevated.
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 solution effectively prevents and removes carbon buildup, enhances lubrication and cooling, and extends the service life of seal elements by maintaining effective sealing performance even under high-speed and high-pressure conditions.
Implementation Method 1
The flow element generates a pressure difference in the fluid. As a result of this pressure difference, the fluid is accelerated either directly towards the dynamic sealing zone of the seal arrangement or away from the sealing zone.
Implementation Method 2
A reduction in the service life of the seal elements caused by friction is counteracted in practice primarily by optimized lubrication in the area of the sealing section of the seal element that comes in contact with the sealing surface
Implementation Method 3
The fluid accelerated at the machine part having the sealing surface additionally pushes outward at higher rotational speeds due to the centrifugal force. This creates so-called Taylor vortices, which are perpendicular to the movement axis of the two machine parts and cause a mixing of the fluid.
Implementation Method 4
Finally, the seal element can no longer sufficiently compensate for vibrations of the machine parts or irregularities of the sealing surface, causing oil to escape
Data Source
AI summary
A seal arrangement includes a first and a second machine part which are arranged spaced apart from one another with the formation of a sealing gap and can be moved relative to one another about a movement axis. A seal element with a base section is arranged on or in a seal holding structure of one of the two machine parts. A sealing head bears in a dynamically sealing manner by way of a sealing section against a sealing surface of the respective other machine part in order to seal a high-pressure side from a low-pressure side. The seal element on the high-pressure side has at least one flow element, wherein during relative movement of the two machine parts fluid on the high-pressure side in the area of the sealing section of flows onto the sealing head.