24-10-2014, 04:03 PM
Abstracts: A mechanical face seal is an important component of variety of pumps used in chemical, petrochemical and process industry. The primary function of a mechanical seal is to prevent leakage of the process fluid from the pump housing and shaft to the environment. As a key component in fluid transportation, storage, and containment, the reliability and performance of mechanical seals is very important. The factors that affect the performance of a mechanical seal to leak are friction, wear and its thermal characteristics. This thesis deals with the design, development, and optimization, used to improve the mechanical seal performance. A new design of a mechanical seal with an implanted heat sink in its mating ring is reported. The mating ring incorporates an internal channel in which a coolant (either a gas or a liquid) flows to remove heat from the seal face. This Thesis begins with an introductory background of mechanical seal component design, followed by an introduction of external forces and boundary conditions used to describe the seal as an axisymmetric model. Followed a numerical investigation of conjugate heat transfer of turbulent flow within a mechanical seal chamber is presented. The computational model takes into account the heat generation at the contact interface between the rotating ring and the stationary ring, heat conduction into the rings, and heat convection into the surrounding fluid in the chamber. Correlations are developed for predicting the average heat transfer coefficient on the wetted outer surfaces of the seal rings assuming that the flow in the seal chamber is turbulent. Design concepts for improved fluid sealing were studied using advanced engineering analysis and state-of-the-art data visualization. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provided the principal means for evaluating the circulation and effectiveness of coolants used in mechanical seals. Virtual prototype tests were carried out using ANSYS CFX and FLUENT, a general-purpose fluid flow solver. Conclusions drawn from the project suggest simple and cost-effective ways to enhance removal of heat, while improving the thermal environment, operation, and life expectancy of seals.