Prevention of seal failures

Trouble Shooting & Solutions

 Trouble Shooting & Solutions

 In general Dry Gas Seals are a very reliable compressor component

 Only 3.44% of compressor failures are due to Dry Gas Seals 1)
 Minimum 50 compressors shut down per year globally,
due to Dry Gas Seal failures
 Estimated average repair cost of $ 150,000 2)

1) OREDA 2002, 4th edition, DET NORSKE VERITAS (Offshore Reliability Handbook)
2) Production losses not included

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Typical causes for seal failures

Gas seal failures

 Contamination
 Formation of carbon
 Low speed operation
 High axial vibration

Barrier seal failures

 Operation with dry N2
 Oil migration
Gas Seal Barrier

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Typical causes for seal failures and their prevention

Gas seal failures

 Contamination case 1: recycle gas with heavy
 Formation of carbon HC’s
 Low speed operation
 High axial vibration

Barrier seal failures

 Operation with dry N2
 Oil migration

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Gas seal failure due to contamination

 Observation:
Fluctuating leakage; continuously increasing leakage trend

 Initial cause:
Hang-up or blocking of dynamic secondary seal

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DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Typical causes for seal failures and their prevention

Gas seal failures

 Contamination case 2: natural gas with traces of
 Formation of carbon oil
 Low speed operation
 High axial vibration

Barrier seal failures

 Operation with dry N2
 Oil migration

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Gas seal failure due to contamination

Observation:
Sudden increase of leakage ; catastrophic seal failure

Initial cause:
Overload of torque transmission due to high wear or sticking faces

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DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Gas seal failure due to contamination
Prevention Measures:
 Whenever possible use external gas source for the supply of dry gas seals
 Use of adequate filter systems and cleaning of all gas supply connections prior to compressor start up
 Detailed evaluation of condensation in seal area with specified gas composition

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Gas seal failure due to contamination
Prevention Measures:
 Optimized seal design to reduce negative effects of contamination
 Optimized gas inlet ports to avoid accumulation of particles in seal area
 Use of (heated) nitrogen to dry the vent line

Process gas

Nitrogen

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Typical causes for seal failures and their prevention

Gas seal failures

 Contamination
 Formation of carbon

 Low speed operation case 4: gas storage

application
 High axial vibration

Barrier seal failures

 Operation with dry N2
 Oil migration

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Gas seal failure due to low speed operation

 Observation:
Sudden increase of leakage, predominately on outboard seal

 Initial cause:
Seal face contact and catastrophic seal failure

seal faces: outboard

seal faces: inboard
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DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Gas seal failure due to low speed operation
Evaluation of operating conditions:
 Compressor was shut down frequently (in total more than 1.000 start/stops)
 High rotor mass lead to a long coast down period; 200 rpm 0 takes 5 minutes
 Inboard seal: natural gas; 80 bara / Outboard seal: Nitrogen; 2 bara

Inboard seal Outboard seal

Field of
lift off operation lift off

contact contact

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Gas seal failure due to low speed operation
Prevention Measures:
 Extended technical specification for gas seals including transient
operating conditions
 Whenever possible avoid operation of seals in contact mode
 (optimized speed or pressure conditions)
 Use of robust seal faces (e.g. EagleBurgmann DiamondFaces ®)

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Typical causes for seal failures and their prevention

Gas seal failures

 Contamination
 Formation of carbon
 Low speed operation
 High axial vibration

Barrier seal failures

 Operation with dry N2
 Oil migration

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Barrier seal failure due to operation with dry N2

 Observation:
Increasing leakage of the barrier seal

 Initial cause:
Excessive wear of the barrier seal

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DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Barrier seal failure due to operation with dry N2

Prevention Measures:
 It is not recommended to use Lift-Off type barrier seals (CSR) with extreme dry N2.
 Respect a dew point limit of -50 DegC
 For critical applications use Non-Contact type Carbon Ring Seal (CSE -Espey) or CobaSealTM

Increased shaft runout

Shaft vibration

Shaft vibration

Shaft vibration
20-25µm (ptp)

20-25µm (ptp)

20-25µm (ptp)
Shaft runout

Shaft runout

Shaft runout

Shaft runout

Slow Roll
20-25µm

125µm

125µm
75µm
Barrier gas Dew Point
Air -20 DegC < 20µm < 20µm < 20µm < 20µm
Reduced N2 (separator) -45 DegC < 20µm < 20µm < 20µm < 20µm
humidity N2 (fluid tank) -68 DegC < 20µm < 20µm < 20µm > 100µm

Wear rate of carbon rings after 20 hours of operation

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Typical causes for seal failures and their prevention

Gas seal failures

 Contamination
 Formation of carbon
 Low speed operation
 High axial vibration

Barrier seal failures

 Operation with dry N2

 Oil migration

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Barrier seal failure due to oil migration

 Observation:
Oil migration to secondary vent; increasing leakage of barrier seal

 Initial cause:
Oil migration across carbon rings; cracking of oil (with presence of air)

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DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Barrier seal failure due to operation with dry N2
Prevention Measures:
 Adequate barrier gas pressure is decisive for proper function of lift-off type seals ‘Optimum
pressure is dependent to bearing design of the compressor’
 Use of Nitrogen as barrier gas avoids oil cracking
 For critical applications use Non-Contact type Carbon Ring Seal (CSE -Espey) or CobaSealTM

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Summary and conclusion

Gas seal failures

 Contamination
 Formation of carbon
 Low speed operation
 High axial vibration

Barrier seal failures

 Operation with dry N2
 Oil migration
Gas Seal Barrier

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009

 Summary and conclusion

 Extensive technical specification, mentioning the complete range

of operating cases is mandatory
 For critical applications it is recommended to schedule a Kick Off
Meeting with User, Compressor Manufacturer and Seal vendor
 New technical solutions provide an additional safety margin
 In the unlikely case of a seal failure an open and constructive
cooperation between all affected parties is essential

DryGasSeals Compressor Seals Division / TC © EagleBurgmann 2009 2009