Gas Film Disturbance Characteristics Analysis of High-Speed and High-Pressure Dry Gas Seal

The dry gas seal（DGS） has been widely used in high parameters centrifugal compressor, but the intense vibrations of shafting, especially in high-speed condition, usually result in DGS＇s failure. So the DGS＇s ability of resisting outside interference has become a determining factor of the further development of centrifugal compressor. However, the systematic researches of which about gas film disturbance characteristics of high parameters DGS are very little. In order to study gas film disturbance characteristics of high-speed and high-pressure spiral groove dry gas seal（S-DGS） with a flexibly mounted stator, rotor axial runout and misalignment are taken into consideration, and the finite difference method and analytical method are used to analyze the influence of gas film thickness disturbance on sealing performance parameters, what＇s more, the effects of many key factors on gas film thickness disturbance are systematically investigated. The results show that, when sealed pressure is 10.1MPa and seal face average linear velocity is 107.3 m/s, gas film thickness disturbance has a significant effect on leakage rate, but has relatively litter effect on open force; Excessively large excitation amplitude or excessively high excitation frequency can lead to severe gas film thickness disturbance; And it is beneficial to assure a smaller gas film thickness disturbance when the stator material density is between 3.1 g/cm3 to 8.4 g/cm3; Ensuring sealing performance while minimizing support axial stiffness and support axial damping can help to improve dynamic tracking property of dry gas seal. The proposed research provides the instruction to optimize dynamic tracking property of the DGS.

Dynamic Coupling Correlation of Gas Film in Dry Gas Seal with Spiral Groove

In working state, the dynamic performance of dry gas seal, generated by the rotating end face with spiral grooves, is determined by the open force of gas film and leakage flow rate. Generally, the open force and the leakage flow rate can be obtained by finite element method, computational fluid dynamics method and experimental measurement method. However, it will take much time to carry out the above measurements and calculations. In this paper, the approximate model of parallel grooves based on the narrow groove theory is used to establish the dynamic equations of the gas film for the purpose of obtaining the dynamic parameters of gas film. The nonlinear differential equations of gas film model are solved by Runge-Kutta method and shooting method. The numerical values of the pressure profiles, leakage flux and opening force on the seal surface are integrated, and then compared to experimental data for the reliability of the numerical simulation. The results show that the numerical simulation curves are in good agreement with experimental values. Furthermore, the opening force and the leakage flux are proved to be strongly correlated with the operating parameters. Then, the function-coupling method is introduced to analyze the numerical results to obtain the correlation formulae of the opening force and leakage flux respectively with the operating parameters, i.e., the inlet pressure and the rotating speed. This study intends to provide an effective way to predict the aerodynamic performance for designing and optimizing the groove styles in dry gas seal rapidly and accurately.

Leakage and Stiffness Characteristics of Bionic Cluster Spiral Groove Dry Gas Seal

Spiral groove dry gas seal(S?DGS), the most widely used DGS in the world, encounters the problem of high leakage rate and inferior film stability when used in high?speed machinery equipment, which could not be well solved by optimization of geometrical parameters and molded line of spiral groove. A new type of bionic cluster spiral groove DGS(CS?DGS) is proved to have superior film stability than S?DGS at the condition of high?speed and low?pressure numerically. A bionic CS?DGS is experimentally investigated and compared with common S?DGS in order to provide evidence for theoretical study. The film thickness and leakage rate of both bionic spiral groove and common spiral groove DGS are measured and compared with each other and with theoretical values under different closing force at the condition of static pressure, high?speed and low?pressure, and the film stiffness and stiffness?leakage ratio of these two face seals are derived by the relationship between closing force and film thickness at the steady state. Experimental results agree well with the theory that the leakage and stiffness of bionic CS?DGS are superior to that of common S?DGS under the condition of high?speed and low?pressure, with the decreasing amplitude of 20% to 40% and the growth amplitude of 20%, respectively. The opening performance and stiffness characteristics of bionic CS?DGS are inferior to that of common S?DGS when rotation speed equals to 0 r/min. The proposed research provides a new method to measure the axis film stiffness of DGS, and validates the superior performance of bionic CS?DGS at the condition of high?speed and low?pressure experimentally.

Performance comparison and parametric study on spiral groove gas film face seals

Several spiral groove gas film face seals (SGFS) with different layouts are compared quantitatively to analyze their merits and faults and application behaviors. In addition, a parametric study on downstream mode SGFS is conducted to determine its optimal parameters under certain working conditions. In tne computation of gas film pressure on the face, finite element method (FEM) is applied to adapt to complicated geometrical boundary.

A Comparative Study on the Performance of Typical Types of Bionic Groove Dry Gas Seal based on Bird Wing

A series of bionic grooves based on bird wing, such as cluster spiral groove, multi-array spiral groove and flow-split spiral groove, are introduced to improve the film stiffness and sealing properties of dry gas seal. A theoretical model solved with Finite Difference Method （FMD） is developed to study the static sealing performance, such as film stiffness and leakage rate of these bionic groove dry gas seals. Then, a performance comparative study between the bionic groove dry gas seals and common spiral groove dry gas seal with different groove geometry parameters such as groove depth ratio, spiral angle and micro groove number under different average linear velocity at seal ring face and seal pressure is carried out. The closing force, film thickness and leakage rate of dry gas seals with bionic grooves and common spiral groove are measured experimentally. Results show that cluster spiral groove and multi-array spiral groove dry gas seals have superiority in the film stiffness and stiffness-leakage ratio compared with common spiral groove under the condition of high-speed and low-pressure, while flow-split spiral groove dry gas seal has no obvious advantages of performance. Film stiffness of cluster spiral groove dry gas seal and stiffness-leakage ratio of multi-array spiral groove dry gas are 20% and 50% larger than that of common spiral groove dry gas seal, respectively, which are verified by the experimental results.

Characterization of the Protective Surface Films Formed on Molten AZ91D Magnesium Alloy in SO_2/Air Atmospheres in a Sealed Furnace

Surface films that formed on molten AZ91D magnesium alloy in S02/air cover gases at 680 ℃ in a sealed furnace were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. It is revealed that the film formed on molten AZ91D alloy surface in cover gas with high air content can prevent the molten AZ91D alloy from oxidation and ignition. The surface film contained three elements, namely magnesium, oxygen and sulfur, and was mainly composed of MgO and MgS. The properties of the film depended on air content in the cover gas and holding time. Thermodynamic calculation showed that MgSO4 was the stable phase, and it was concluded that the formation of MgS04 was important for the formation of the protective surface film in S02/air atmospheres.