Dry Gas Seals for compressors and Auxiliary Equipment, SMS and Shut-down safety systems

Holder, Norbert C.

Typically, compressors with dry gas shaft seals are used in applications in which they are critical parts of the entire process. Every component of a dry gas seal is designed to manage exposure to extreme conditions. The seals can be arranged in single, double or tandem arrangements according to the application.

A dry gas seal creates a film of gas between a rotating seat and a stationary face. This film of gas between the seal faces must be generated and maintained, avoid contact for smallest amount of gas allowed to leak through the seal.

A seal management system must be designed to support the dry gas seal. The design must deliver sufficient, quality seal supply gas to the dry gas seal. It will monitor the leakage rate of the dry gas seal and provide alarms and shutdowns to prevent process gas from leaking should a failure occur. It will also verify that the secondary or back-up seal provides process gas containment in the event of failure.