What is Best for you Mechanical Seal or Packing

Do you want to change your conventional packing to a mechanical seal? This gonna be a change for your industry. Mechanical seals are cost-efficient and will save your time and money, but most people installed it in the wrong manner. You should also take care of them as they required proper maintenance.

This blog will help you out in understanding more about a mechanical seal, conventional ways of packing, and compression packing, read it out for more.

Let’s start with the basics, why pumps need to be sealed, and how a centrifugal pump operates. 

The fluid goes into a centrifugal pump through the suction nozzle at the middle of a rotating impeller. As the impeller rotates, its vanes fill with fluid, then force it out to the pump casing where it exits the pump through the discharge nozzle.

Sadly, the pressure created by the discharge will force fluid back to the impeller, where it tries to exit by way of the rotating drive shaft. The pump manufacturers know about this flaw and they want to minimize this leakage by improving the design, but the leakage won't be stopped completely. Some sort of sealing method must be applied to minimize the leakage. It can be anything from Sheet Rubber to Gasket Materials.

Using conventional packing as a seal

The conventional Packing materials were initially the sealing way of choice, by using soft, and flexible materials. In this modern era, a wide range of packing materials and procedures are available with a variety of applications. It's still a popular method of sealing pumps because of its low initial cost, convenient installation, and prefabricated materials. However, it can be an expensive venture with time as they need more maintenance, and also allow more fluid loss than mechanical seals.

Benefits of using Mechanical seal and Spiral wound gaskets

The topmost benefit of using a mechanical seal is the unbelievable reduction in fluid leakage. That reduction in leakage also has several effects on your industry. Things like a secure work environment without any problems like a wet floor, bearing failures caused by leaking fluid, no excessive wear, and tear on the shaft sleeve damage from packing.

The maintenance department looks for savings in time and budget. No more replacements in packing. Let’s look at the best option for a mechanical seal now, Spiral Wound Gaskets.

• Spiral wound gaskets offer a variety of roles like padding, sealing, leak prevention, mounting, safety against environmental pollutants, and reducing vibration.
• They can perform well in high-pressure, high-temperature, and corrosive environments; and require lesser clamping forces than solid gaskets.
• By their chevron-shaped profile, these gaskets provide padding like a spring; thus being reliable for multiple work environments.
• Due to their reliability and strength, these gaskets also prevent gear failure and the following expenses.
• Spiral wound gaskets can be made to suit a wide range of operating conditions by combining different winding materials and metals, and are also very easy to install.

Now if you made up your mind of changing all your industrial packing to mechanical seals, make sure you contact someone who is professional in them. Mechanical seals are confusing pieces of equipment, with a wide range of materials and applications to choose from. Get one that suits your Industry and its operations.