Why do mechanical seals use auxiliary facilities? （II）

In the previous article, we have already stated the following conclusions: through auxiliary facilities, some harsh working environments can be changed to acceptable sealing, so that the performances of mechanical seals are greatly improved, and the application ranges of them also become wider.

The purpose of the auxiliary facilities is to reduce the undesired temperature rise, maintain a good lubrication state between the sealing end faces of the mechanical seals, and make the parts of the mechanical seals work well. In the easy-to-vaporize medium, it can ensure the pressure in the sealed cavity that it does not vaporize; it can play the role of heat preservation and heat supply in the seal of the cryopump; it can also be used for the mechanical seal with media of crystallization with solid particles or strong corrosive properties.Therefore, some countries refer to the auxiliary system as the protection system.

Of course, the working temperature, pressure and speed of some mechanical seals are not too high, and they can work without auxiliary facilities. However, from the standpoint of seal stability and service life, it is advantageous to use auxiliary facilities.Therefore, the auxiliary facilities should be regarded as an integral part of the mechanical seals, and different auxiliary facilities should be used according to different working conditions.

The internationally accepted American Petroleum Institute standard (centrifugal pump API610) has made specific regulations on this. Correct and reasonable selection of auxiliary facilities is not only important to advancing stability & prolonging the service life of the mechanical seals but also has certain effects on reducing leakage & maintenance workload and reducing production costs by enhancing safety of production.

That's why auxiliary facilities are also called cycle protection systems, or simply sealing systems or protection systems of mechanical seals.