Session: 25-02 Annular Seals 2

Paper Number: 83499

83499 - Leakage and Rotordynamic Performance of a Hole-Pattern Multiphase Pump Seal 

Understanding the leakage and rotordynamic performance of a hole-pattern HP annular seal is critical to the design of a centrifugal pump regarding vibration characteristics and stability. The growing interest in 2-phase pumping, handling gas components in the oil stream directly, brings more challenges in pump design. This paper is to study the leakage and rotordynamic performance of an HP annular seal under bubbly (oil/air) flow conditions. The test seal’s length-to-diameter ratio is 0.75. The rotor surface is smooth and the seal inner surface is textured (65% of the area is occupied by round holes with a depth of 1.9 mm). The test fluid is comprised of silicone oil and air, and the gas volume fraction GVF at the seal inlet is from zero to 9%. The seal exit pressure is 3.4 bars. Tests also cover three pressure drops (from 34.5 to 55.1 bars) and three rotor speeds (5, 10, and 15 krpm). Measured leakage mass flow rate and rotordynamic coefficients are presented and discussed. Measurements are also compared with predictions based on San Andres’s (2011, "Rotordynamic Force Coefficients of Bubbly Mixture Annular Pressure Seals," ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power, 134(2), p. 022503) predictive model that uses the homogenous-mixture assumption.

Presenting Author: Min Zhang Praxair, Inc.

Presenting Author Biography: Min Zhang is a Development Specialist within the Turbomachinery R&D Unit of Praxair Inc. in Tonawanda, NY. He earned his Bachelor and Master degrees from Harbin Institute of Technology (Harbin, China) and received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University (College Station, TX).

Authors:

Min Zhang Linde, Inc.
Dara Childs Texas A&M University