A dry-gas seal system is a non-contact seal technology that is widely used in different industrial applications.Spiral-groove dry-gas seal utilizes fluid dynamic pressure effects to realize the seal and lubrication pr...A dry-gas seal system is a non-contact seal technology that is widely used in different industrial applications.Spiral-groove dry-gas seal utilizes fluid dynamic pressure effects to realize the seal and lubrication processes,while forming a high pressure gas film between two sealing faces due to the deceleration of the gas pumped in or out.There is little research into the effects and the influence on seal performance,if the grooves and the gas film are at the micro-scale.This paper investigates the micro-scale effects on spiral-groove dry-gas seal performance in a numerical solution of a corrected Reynolds equation.The Reynolds equation is discretized by means of the finite difference method with the second order scheme and solved by the successive-over-relaxation(SOR) iterative method.The Knudsen number of the flow in the sealing gas film is changed from 0.005 to 0.120 with a variation of film depth and sealing pressure.The numerical results show that the average pressure in the gas film and the sealed gas leakage increase due to micro-scale effects.The open force is enlarged,while the gas film stiffness is significantly decreased due to micro-scale effects.The friction torque and power consumption remain constant,even in low sealing pressure and spin speed conditions.In this paper,the seal performance at different rotor face spin speeds is also described.The proposed research clarifies the micro-scale effects in a spiral-groove dry-gas seal and their influence on seal performance,which is expected to be useful for the improvement of the design of dry-gas seal systems operating in the slip flow regime.展开更多
The dry-gas seal has been widely used in different industries. With increased spin speed of the rotator shaft, turbulence occurs in the gas film between the stator and rotor seal faces. For the micro-scale flow in the...The dry-gas seal has been widely used in different industries. With increased spin speed of the rotator shaft, turbulence occurs in the gas film between the stator and rotor seal faces. For the micro-scale flow in the gas film and grooves, turbulence can change the pressure distribution of the gas film. Hence, the seal performance is influenced. However, turbulence effects and methods for their evaluation are not considered in the existing industrial designs of dry-gas seal. The present paper numerically obtains the turbulent flow fields of a spiral-groove dry-gas seal to analyze turbulence effects on seal performance. The direct numerical simulation (DNS) and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methods are utilized to predict the velocity field properties in the grooves and gas film. The key performance parameter, open force, is obtained by integrating the pressure distribution, and the obtained result is in good agreement with the experimental data of other researchers. Very large velocity gradients are found in the sealing gas film because of the geometrical effects of the grooves. Considering turbulence effects, the calculation results show that both the gas film pressure and open force decrease. The RANS method underestimates the performance, compared with the DNS. The solution of the conventional Reynolds lubrication equation without turbulence effects suffers from significant calculation errors and a small application scope. The present study helps elucidate the physical mechanism of the hydrodynamic effects of grooves for improving and optimizing the industrial design or seal face pattern of a dry-gas seal.展开更多
基金supported by Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Scholars of Ministry of Education of China
文摘A dry-gas seal system is a non-contact seal technology that is widely used in different industrial applications.Spiral-groove dry-gas seal utilizes fluid dynamic pressure effects to realize the seal and lubrication processes,while forming a high pressure gas film between two sealing faces due to the deceleration of the gas pumped in or out.There is little research into the effects and the influence on seal performance,if the grooves and the gas film are at the micro-scale.This paper investigates the micro-scale effects on spiral-groove dry-gas seal performance in a numerical solution of a corrected Reynolds equation.The Reynolds equation is discretized by means of the finite difference method with the second order scheme and solved by the successive-over-relaxation(SOR) iterative method.The Knudsen number of the flow in the sealing gas film is changed from 0.005 to 0.120 with a variation of film depth and sealing pressure.The numerical results show that the average pressure in the gas film and the sealed gas leakage increase due to micro-scale effects.The open force is enlarged,while the gas film stiffness is significantly decreased due to micro-scale effects.The friction torque and power consumption remain constant,even in low sealing pressure and spin speed conditions.In this paper,the seal performance at different rotor face spin speeds is also described.The proposed research clarifies the micro-scale effects in a spiral-groove dry-gas seal and their influence on seal performance,which is expected to be useful for the improvement of the design of dry-gas seal systems operating in the slip flow regime.
基金supported by Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Scholars,Ministry of Education of China
文摘The dry-gas seal has been widely used in different industries. With increased spin speed of the rotator shaft, turbulence occurs in the gas film between the stator and rotor seal faces. For the micro-scale flow in the gas film and grooves, turbulence can change the pressure distribution of the gas film. Hence, the seal performance is influenced. However, turbulence effects and methods for their evaluation are not considered in the existing industrial designs of dry-gas seal. The present paper numerically obtains the turbulent flow fields of a spiral-groove dry-gas seal to analyze turbulence effects on seal performance. The direct numerical simulation (DNS) and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methods are utilized to predict the velocity field properties in the grooves and gas film. The key performance parameter, open force, is obtained by integrating the pressure distribution, and the obtained result is in good agreement with the experimental data of other researchers. Very large velocity gradients are found in the sealing gas film because of the geometrical effects of the grooves. Considering turbulence effects, the calculation results show that both the gas film pressure and open force decrease. The RANS method underestimates the performance, compared with the DNS. The solution of the conventional Reynolds lubrication equation without turbulence effects suffers from significant calculation errors and a small application scope. The present study helps elucidate the physical mechanism of the hydrodynamic effects of grooves for improving and optimizing the industrial design or seal face pattern of a dry-gas seal.