Mechanical Seal Maintenance Simplified

For rotating shaft equipment and machinery that include large pumps, seal maintenance can be a time-consuming and expensive proposition. That was the case at one Midwestern power plant, where installing and maintaining the cartridge seals on its six large, recirculating service pumps were a regular ordeal.

Repairing or replacing one of its cartridge seals was a process that involved disassembling the pump, removing and replacing the seal and rebuilding the pump—which required 240 man-hours throughout multiple days. The plant usually performed seal maintenance at least once per year on these large pumps, so the labor hours and costs added up quickly.