Machinery Reliability Chapter-1: The Secrets

of Extremely Reliable Mechanical Shaft Seals

Abdulrahman Alkhowaiter Machinery Consultant; 2019

Reliability is defined as the probability that a device will perform its required function under rated
conditions for a specific period of time. The user of modern continuous duty pumps experiences M-seal
failures with an average seal population life of 2.50 to 3.0 years in refineries and chemical plants, although
bad actor machines frequently have an MTBF of less than 12 months. The author recalls Crude Oil and
NGL pumps operating in the late 1970’s with MTBF’s measured in weeks. There was no such thing as a
Reliability Unit, and Machinery Root Cause Analysis was a black art or non-existent.

Machines and components want to operate in a perfect world of their own..…Not yours. The modern
mechanical seal is a miracle of technology and creative design but its various parts are highly sensitive to
many failure modes and thus must be protected from failure mechanisms in the design, manufacturing
and installation phases. The role you want to play is to enable that quest for perfection. The machine will
then pay you back by perfect operation. Mechanical seal relibility is not magic, but the secrets of reliability
are not visible to most users and even manufacturers. By applying the knowledge in this article and that

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in M-Seal design books and courses an experienced machinery engineer can resolve even the most
difficult sealing problems reliably and with higher safety. So let us start.

Fluid pumps are considered the highest population of machinery worldwide ranging above 250 million
pumps with most being centrifugal pumps. In the Industrial process plant environment its the same result;
the majority of machinery are pumps and almost all have one or two mechanical seals depending if they
are end suction or between bearing types. That means a lot of seal failures reducing pump reliability and
impacting plant safety when hazardous fluids leak. It also suggests that maintenance employees,
operation, and engineering staff are needed to monitor and resolve the failures.

Impact on Industrial & Process Plant Design: There is another little recognized aspect in that process
pumps are spared with two or more installed pumps per service. The reason for this sparing is due to the
high machinery availability demanded meaning at least 2 x 100% or 3 x 50% capacity pumps are installed
to achieve the minimum required 0.9998 Pumping Availability. This would equate to 0.9998 x 365 day=
Probability of 1.5 hours yearly downtime. The problem is that most centrifugal pumps cannot achieve
0.9998 Reliability per year and mechanical seal related failures are the primary cause. The second highest
cause of online failures would be pump bearing issues and high vibration at bearing housings or driver
related issues. Preventive maintenance for the pump skid is another reason cited for redundancy but this
can be changed by well designed pumps and drivers which can operate continuously for three years
without needing a scheduled yearly shutdown. Even lubricant replacement on self contained bearing
housings is possible by careful design and during operation if required. The reduced reliability forces
industrial plant users to compensate the low availability by large capital investments of redundant pumps
which consume high maintenance-operation manhours during the service life. It also introduces the need
for start-stop operation which is detrimental to M-Seal and pump reliability.

Who Needs a Bathtub? Think Outside of It; Design For Non-Wearing M-Seals

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Modern Machinery Availability: Do you have a redundant refrigerator at home with 2 x 100% units? Most
likely not because the modern well designed and manufactured refrigerator achieves 15 years MTBF. So
why can’t centrifugal pumps and their M-Seals be designed for 10 years MTBF service? If this concept is
applied then industrial plants would not require dual redundant pump skids and may only need a single
installed pump skid with warehouse spare pump and driver. That is a major cost reduction both in capital
and lifecycle expenditure costs and can reduce plant maintenance-operation staff by 20%.

Why Don’t Mechanical Shaft Seals Last 10 Years or More, out of The Box? Well they were not designed
to. That’s right, there is no industry standard including API-682 requiring ten or more years’ life. That’s
the first reason; the second reason is that most mechanical seal companies don’t apply reliability
engineering during the design of seals. It’s both a science and art and that type of talent is rare. The third
reason is that reliability in the design & manufacturing stage costs extra money but most customers don’t
pay for such reliability up front. A final reason is that users place the seals into unreliable pumps with a
poor seal operating environment thus hastening the aging and failure of shaft seals.

Look at The M-Seal as If It’s a Complete Machine to study all possible failure mechanisms. It has many
parts affected by many mechanisms so it’s operation is not simple. Seals are degraded by numerous
internal seal design factors and external pump related factors. Even the pump driver and coupling can
severely reduce seal life expectancy. Think about the forces that rotating seal parts are exposed to when
an Induction motor starts; A typical 1000 HP pump accelerates from zero to 3600 RPM in five seconds.
This startup torque can momentarily cause ten times the normal seal operating torque due to both inertia
and face sticking, which stresses rotating sleeves, faces, and springs.

These designs dispensed with Mechanical Seals; Early Sealing methods used Packing Glands & Didn’t
Need Mechanical Parts; But leakage was High. An alternative design from 1956 patented an innovative
unusual Axial Flux integrated Sealless motor-pump which actually did use internal seals to stop bearing
housing contamination. But it had no external M-Seals to leak.

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Theoretical Reliability Principlas to Achieve Extreme M-Seal Reliability
The M-Seal is built like a chain of links meaning any single link’s failure leads to component failure and the
reason that many users around the world experience unresolved seal failures is due to reduced experience
in the design and operational causes of early failure, insufficient Root Cause Failure Analysis, and errors
in pump selection and installation. Many engineers are lost in the complexity of modern sealing plans
which cover up the ability to understand the simple failure mechanisms occurring at the static and
dynamic seals:

1. Reliable machines and mechanical seals demand perfection: Not only on paper but under actual
operating conditions. That means that mating faces must stay flat against each other just as you see
them in the x-section drawings. Perfection extends to everything involved with the seal, such as
perfection of shaft to bearing housing alignment, perfection of operating clearances in mechanical
parts, perfection of the lubrication regime between the faces, perfection of material quality for
metals, ceramics, and elastomers, springs. The closer you achieve perfection the higher the reliability.
2. The Kiss Principle is Important: Keep it Simple Stupid…There are a lot of people in hospitals connected
to support systems, does that mean that they are Healthy? No. It’s the same with mechanical seals, if
you can keep them away from support systems and auxiliaries by careful and creative design, this is
more conducive toward a long and healthy operating life.
3. Minimize the Number of Series Parts: R-total= R1 x R2 x R3 x Rn….M-Seals will only operate reliably
when they have the minimum number of components…not the maximum that you can pack in plus
support systems. That is called Unreliability Engineering.
4. Mechanical Failure Mechanisms Hate Redundancy so for example, the liquid leakage past a single
seal O-ring can be stopped in its tracks by a second redundant O-ring. How much does such
redundancy cost? Very little compared to a new replacement cartridge seal, less than 1%. This is the
most critical area for redundant design in single mechanical seals.

A seal support system means that the M-Seal can’t stay alive without these auxiliaries….

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Practical Mechanical Design Reliability Principles for Machinery & Components That can be
Applied to Mechanical Seals in the Design-Manufacturing Stage:
1. Minimize the number of rotating and static parts as this reduces failure probability by the series law
of reliability. This has already been mentioned. Minimize any auxiliaries required.
2. Apply redundancy to the role of critical parts which have high failure rates but do not have excessive
size, weight, and cost. An example is using Dual O-rings in separate grooves, to prevent leakage. Note:
A Tandem seal is not truly applying theoretical redundancy as the primary seal failure still requires M-
Seal overhaul. However, the safety of operation is increased, leakage emissions are reduced, and
some extension of overall seal MTBF is possible due to the backup seal.
3. Apply maximum precision to all seal and pump parts machining. Improve Seal Cartridge design
allowing a minimum possibility of assembly errors.
4. Eliminate Looseness in parts as much as possible by utilizing improved assemblies such as shrink fitted
type or integrating multiple parts into a single part.
5. Design all parts exposed to mechanical or thermal fatigue with minimum geometric stress
concentration by adding radiuses of the largest possible size and minimizing sudden changes in
section thickness. Seal springs wire diameter should never be less than 2 mm.
6. Design parts with a safety factor of 2.0 minimum against the combined stresses. This is to allow for
Manufacturing deviations, Material strength variations, excessive user loading, and unusual operating
conditions. One example of unusual loading is sudden pressure variations in the stuffing box which
cause impacting and high alternating stresses on seal parts, but users do not notice these stresses
which convert pressure variance to force variance and fatigue. Example: High impeller vane pass
vibration amplitude is caused by fluid pulsation pressure at the cutwater clearances and this transfers
vibration forces from shaft to seal faces and O-rings.

High Probability of Seal Failure Is Caused by A Lack of Reliability Engineering Applied During Design,
Manufacturing and Installation of Pump and Seal.

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7. Maximize torque transfer strength capability of all rotating-static parts. In M-Seals that means that
flimsy axial or radial pins holding faces to sleeves or stationary elements is an extremely poor design
practice. Using outer diameter fixation and torque transfer can give 20 x or higher torque capability
in the same size seal parts. Don’t forget that even the stationary seal faces are acted upon torsionally
with both constant and varying loading.
8. Increase wear resistance by increasing surface hardness on all contacting parts which have relative
motion or frictional contact such as O-rings on shaft or faces, and of course the mating stationary and
rotating seal faces.
9. Design parts to withstand vibration during operation. Vibration increases fretting, reduces lubrication
of mating faces, causes fatigue, and loosens parts. Increase the damping of components to reduce
vibration as the vibration leads to edge loading. For example, dual O-ring face seals increase damping.
10. Increase the film thickness between lubricated parts. The film thickness between faces should be
maximized without reaching excessive external face leakage so it’s a design balance. In difficult fluid
services such as light Hydrocarbons, the use of softer faces with self-lubricating properties such as
Carbon will increase reliability against the lubrication starvation failure mode, but it then increases
other failure mechanisms such as material fatigue failure [has reduced strength] and increases wear.
11. Maximize the use of Ductile parts and reduce the number of Brittle parts. In mechanical seals the hard
faces are typically brittle ceramics, but even with these, some are more ductile meaning have higher
toughness properties so can withstand more mechanical and thermal fluctuating stresses. The most
extreme reliable face would be manufactured from a high strength but ductile and corrosion stainless
steel or Nickel alloy with the contacting face and O-ring seal area Laser Cladded using a Ceramic
material whose hardness is similar to Tungsten or Silicon Carbide. Even a thick film Diamond or
Diamond Like coated surface would exhibit outstanding wear resistance on the SS faces. The primary
advantages are robustness of the metal faces and their ability to dissipate heat efficiently.

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12. Increase rigidity of components except for compliant parts. This includes face thickness, seal sleeve
rigidity, spring strength. Flexibility increases vibration and fatigue stresses.
13. Reduce geometric misalignment of components during operation by insuring extreme precision in
manufacturing and by adding self-aligning capability to components when possible.
14. Establish a temperature safety factor in design for all components. Insure seal maximum design
temperatures are carefully tested or computed and then establish a 90 % limit on the materials chosen
so that the material thermal continuous rating exceeds the maximum true service temperature by at
least 10%. This is critical and greatly extends reliability. For example, with Viton [FKM] Elastomers
rated at 380 DegF, the limit of reliable application should not exceed 0.90 x 380= 342 DegF.
15. Increase seal face and stuffing box cooling rate to reduce thermal stresses, thermal degradation, and
thermal expansion. Notice that increased seal face lubrication reduces cooling needs through
reducing friction and by increasing convective heat transfer.
16. Establish optimum component material selection by applying high corrosion resistant materials
throughout. Corrosion leads to early failure and non-corroding materials have almost zero aging.
17. Eliminate or greatly reduce entry of foreign objects. In M-seals, the primary FOB is solid particle entry
into the faces, thus causing abrasion and loss of surface finish, leading to higher leakage. To eliminate
such foreign objects, the pumped liquid is best filtered or centrifuged by Cyclone separators. The
second defense mechanism is to ensure that the seal faces are always in excellent contact and face
alignment, because thermal deformation and misalignment open the seal faces allowing larger
particles to enter and damage the faces. This is achieved by maintaining a low radial-axial vibration
environment in the pump, using more self-aligning capability such as stationary face springs, and
improving thermal and pressure design by techniques such as hydraulically balanced faces.
18. Future M-Seal reliability technological improvements: Self-healing sealing face surfaces, Ceramic hard
faces with limited self-lubricating properties, innovative Bellows sealing that utilizes heavy duty
flexible design, introduction of innovative flexible metal-plastic seals, internal cooling of faces.

Pump Bearing housing Resonanant vibration, or its Mislaignment to Casing centreline will impose high
vibration and early M-Seal failures. Photo: Mechanical Solutions Incorporated.

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Practical Mechanical Design Reliability Principles Applicable Toward Improving Existing
M-Seals Resistance to Failure without Major Design Changes:
1. Internal and external pump vibration sources must be reduced: Rotor unbalance, hydraulic
unbalance, internal misalignment, cavitation, support looseness and other sources, will lead to a
cumulative vibration amplitude that is measured seismically at bearing housings or measured as shaft
displacement. If this vibration exceeds normal smooth vibration limits [0.15 inch/s velocity RMS
maximum] or [2.0 mills displacement for pumps of 1200 RPM to 3600 RPM] the result will be reduced
M-Seal life. The actual life reduction due to exceeding these limits will depend greatly on the specific
design of the pump, mechanical design of the seal, and period of operation exceeding these values.
This is not to say that M-seals will not operate above these values; it is only to state that from user’s
experience, vibration levels above these limits show a definite reduction in seal lifetime.
2. Insure that axial shuttling of any pump shaft never exceeds 0.010 inch total under dynamic
conditions. For optimum M-Seal life the float or axial movement range on hydrodynamic thrust
bearings should be reduced to 0.010 inch. This can be controlled by tightening the axial float
clearances on pump thrust bearings. For pumps with ball or roller thrust bearings they should be set
to a shaft axial float of 0.003 to 0.004-inch maximum. With axial shuttling, once the frequency and
amplitude of axial movement exceeds the ability of the M-Seal spring face combination to react to
movement [inertial forces], the faces open up slightly and solid particles can enter and damage the
faces. Many seals have failed early due to axial shuttling of pump rotors which can occur from
hydraulic forces, mechanical defects, coupling problems, or driver shaft shuttling such as motor rotor
centering forces toward magnetic center. To minimize this, the first step is to limit the maximum
possible axial float of pump shaft, and next is to stop the sources of rotor axial shuttling.

M-Seal Stuffing Box Face & Bore Machining Accuracy is Critical. Photo: www.primeengineering.com

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3. Bearing housings and stuffing boxes can distort under internal pressurization forces. Housing
external deflection check [using dial indicators] after pump startup and at full load conditions should
not exceed 0.004-inch maximum in any direction. Dial indicators are applied and zeroed before pump
startup. Notice that dial reading will be a combination of internal static pressure deflection and
dynamic deflection from operating torque, rotor loads, and vibration. A pump can operate with higher
deflections with no visible leakage, but seal life will be reduced. The optimum limit for long seal life
would be 0.002 inches of housing steady state deflection. The pump deflections occurring will be due
to a combination of internal pressurization of pump causing casing expansion, suction and discharge
piping forces arising from pressurization and thermal effects, dynamic forces from coupling
misalignment transferred to bearing housings, thermal growth effects on casing, casing torque
reaction.
4. Shaft Coupling Alignment Accuracy: Shaft coupling dynamic forces from misalignment will bend or
displace the shaft at each revolution, leading to vibrations that are transmitted to the seal faces. These
vibrations will open the faces slightly when the vibration amplitude reaches a critical value. Such
vibrations also disturb the boundary lubrication regime between the faces. To eliminate flexible
coupling misalignment as a causal factor in premature seal failures, it is important to have an actual
hot operating alignment that ensures a maximum of 0.001 inch offset misalignment for every inch of
coupling separation gap or DBSE. For extremely reliable operation, precision alignment to half of this
limit, or 0.0005 inch per inch DBSE will lead to maximum life. Naturally a longer coupling DBSE gap
reduces misalignment angle, forces, and vibration, so a minimum specification of 12.0-inch length
coupling DBSE spacers on all pumps of 100 HP & greater will go a long way toward reducing the impact
of normal coupling misalignment and extending M-Seal lifetimes.

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5. The Wet M-Seal at stuffing box should be provided with a liquid that has a high purity [filtered or
centrifuged if necessary] with a temperature and pressure that allow the liquid to enter the seal faces
in liquid phase at all times, and then vaporize while travelling through the faces. In addition, the liquid
must provide sufficient cooling for the seal faces externally to direct frictional heat away and maintain
safe operating temperatures. Excessive thermal deformation of seal faces can lead to leakage if
cooling is insufficient. The cooling ability will depend upon the temperature of the liquid, the ability
to circulate new liquid into stuffing box to carry away the heat, the specific heat of the liquid, and
total thermal load on mechanical seals. If the pumped liquid has an excessive amount of saturated or
dissolved salts, the solutions are either to use Hard-Hard faces [with viscous fluids] or utilize a separate
flushing liquid or buffer fluid with favorable properties conducive to long term seal face operation.
6. The application of complicated seal support systems: Many users have been steered away from the
basic principles of M-seal reliability, and have spent the majority of time solving seal failures by
switching to complicated seal plans and other activities. It is important to understand that support
systems are secondary to basic mechanical seal reliability, and the primary factors for seal reliability
are in actual cartridge seal design and installation parameters. Auxiliary equipment is secondary and
the seal plans cannot maintain the M-Seal leak-free if the faces separate. The proof of this statement
can be found in the following real life example: An NGL Barrel pump with USD $35,000 Double seals
and API-plan 54 installation on a between bearing API horizontal pump, was set up with the latest
modern seal design and support system. However, this complicated system relying on numerous
components and instrumentation failed in a short time when excess piping strain occurred at pump
flanges. The result of the pipe strain was deflection at M-seal faces leading to slight opening of faces
particularly on 3600 RPM pump speeds. Within a few months the seals started to leak excessively.
Therefore, complicated support systems do not comprehensively address the seal failure modes. A
more reliable seal would have been a Tandem seal with primary Hard-Hard diamond coated and laser
textured faces with dry running secondary that still complies to safety and environmental guidelines.

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7. Mechanical static seal contacting face temperature is a great indicator of whether the seal is
operating in an ideal operating regime or not. For example, insufficient seal face lubrication leads to
higher face temperature which can then provide an external warning that is condition monitored by
the user. Ideally the contacting faces should be operating at an average contact face [not total body]
temperature of about 25 to 65 DegF above the bulk fluid temperature in the seal housing. This
temperature rise indicates that the faces are operating in the Mixed Lubrication to Boundary
Lubrication Cut-off line regime. Lower temperature differentials below 25 DegF mean excessive film
thickness which denotes a large face separation gap that can allow solid particles to pass and scratch
the faces. It can also mean that the faces are opening leading to excessive cooling which is unwanted.
Higher face temperatures above 65 DegF indicate insufficient face lubrication leading to shorter face
life. There are other causes such as insufficient seal face balance, excessive spring tension and others.
8. High reliability Face combinations: For high reliability against wear, the two contacting faces should
have the highest surface hardness possible if the fluid has sufficient lubricating properties. This resists
wear and provides higher strength against fatigue. Too many users rely on the concept of soft face
versus a hard face such as Carbon stationary versus rotating Tungsten Carbide. This is incorrect; soft
faces are not a part of high reliability machines because of their fragility. The carbon face has the sole
reliability advantage of its dry running capability and higher heat transfer. This is critical in low
viscosity vaporizing fluids such as NGL’s or hot water near its flashing vapor pressure, however for the
majority of Fluids, it is not critical to design faces for rubbing operation meaning dry contact. The
possibility of dry rubbing can be minimized by numerous design methods and by pump manufacturing
accuracy discussed in this chapter. Conclusion: Always use a hard face vs hard face combination for
long life whenever the sealing fluid has a worst case viscosity exceeding water at 100 DegF.

High Pressure NGL Pipeline Pump Is a Difficult Wet Seal Service: High suction pressures cause high face
closing pressure which increases face friction. Shaft velocities cause high PV value, the faces receive
poor lubrication from low lubricity NGL fluid, which frequently vaporizes as it enters the faces.

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9. Install the seal on the most rigid and straight pump shaft possible with runout limit of 0.0015 inch
at the seal sleeve. Pump should have the best possible internal alignment within 0.003 inch offset or
angular, and heavy duty skid foundation with 1.25-inch-thick Epoxy Grouting. Then couple it up with
a highly aligned and balanced dry flexible metal coupling or with a permanent magnet shaft coupling
as these provide a stress-free, perfectly smooth torque transfer environment. The next critical rigidity
is the pump bearing housing; this maintains the Bearing, Shaft and M-Seal in geometric center. A
resonant or high vibration deflection will reduce seal life by high vibration mode. Ideally the pump
bearing housing should have its first natural frequency in radial or axial directions above normal speed
by minimum 10% separation which denotes high rigidity and is best mandated by pump standards.
10. M-Seal metal parts including cartridges should be of full stainless steel construction, however
stainless steel alloys vary in their corrosion resistance. When salts and water or acids are involved, the
seal metal captured under O-rings will be exposed to crevice corrosion so special alloys should be
used at O-ring contact areas such as Inconel which has extremely high pitting and crevice corrosion
resistance. This includes the shaft O-ring contact area which can be weld overlaid with Inconel or
other materials on critical pumps. The Springs are exposed to fatigue so material selection of these
should be of superior metallurgy such as Hastelloy. Seal sleeve thermal expansion properties should
closely match that of the shaft or have slightly less expansion coefficient on all pump services.
11. Seal face tracking occurs when rotating springs cannot compensate for change in inertia of the
rotating face and maintain it flat against the stationary face. A highly competent mechanical seal
specialist once stated that stationary spring seals should be applied at speeds greater than 5000 feet
per minute as measured at the seal faces. Stationary seals are usually a better choice for all speeds
because they’re not sensitive to internal and external misalignment and shaft deflection.
12. Seal sleeves should be self-aligning and perfectly locked to shaft; Unequal tightening of the set
screws on shaft can cause face misalignment up to 0.003 to 0.004 inch. In addition the seal sleeve
locking to shaft is best accomplished with tapered lock bushings, or as a second choice, by using large
diameter set screws on drilled holes in shaft of minimum 2.5 mm flat depth. Never apply set screws
to an undrilled shaft as this is unsafe; many seal fires have occurred from sleeves that have loosened
and contacted the seal flange causing rubbing heat, face leakage, and ignition.

Misalignment Impact & Running Behavior of the Mechanical Seal Until Its Failure [BestSens AG]

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Case History-1 Molten Sulfur Pump 2014-2019; Applying Reliability Principles to M-Seals
Molten Sulfur service is extremely difficult for mechanical seals. The seals used are API-682 cartridge single
seals with API plan 02/62. This is an example of a design review by the author to Identify weaknesses and
Impart High Reliability against Failure modes. The knowledge used to identify the weaknesses was
acquired from studying the failure mechanisms attacking such seals at other operating plants. But that is
only 50% of the solution; remaining is devising reliable design countermeasures. The pumps are 3 x 100
HP single stage end suction pumps operating at 3560 RPM, suction pressure is 10 psig with discharge of
370 psig. The pump casings are heated with a steam jacket that extends to the M-seal chamber. The pump
casing & shaft is alloy steel and impeller of stainless steel. The fluid is molten sulfur at 275 to 300 DegF.

The above drawing changes were implemented with change of seal sleeve material and seal face width
during a first phase review. A second phase review increased the O-ring x-section diameter and the seal
face combination was changed from SiC vs. Carbon to SIC vs SIC. Finally, the rotating and stationary face
drive was changed from axial pins to outer diameter large slots to handle high torque during startups.
Design was completed in 2014 and seals have operated from Jan-2017 to 2019 meaning two years while
conventional OEM M-seals usually fail with an MTBF of 3 months to 6 months at best on such services.
We expect a seal life of five years meaning 2000 % increase in MTBF due to heavy duty seal design, well
designed and installed pump with bearing housing vibration not exceeding 0.12 inch rms, and minimum
axial movement of shaft as motor has ball bearing thrust. Insure that you review the pump design and
installation as this greatly impacts seal reliability. Seal cartridge price impacted by only 25% increase.
Molten sulfur has excellent viscosity so is a perfect application for Hard-Hard face combinations.

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Case History-2 Gas Plant 2300 HP NGL Multistage Pumps Tandem Seal Failures & Low MTBF
This example is a case of improving M-Seal reliability in the operation stage where major design changes
are difficult so best to concentrate on a Holistic evaluation of easily improved seal and pump parameters.
The plant introduced 3 x 2300 HP 3570 RPM Direct Motor Driven Centrifugal API Barrel pumps in NGL
condensate service during a year 2008 expansion. The seals are Dual, Tandem cartridge seals with wet
Carbon vs. SIC primary faces and dry running secondary seals meeting API-682. Suction pressure is 200
psig and Discharge 1500 psig. The plant machinery engineer complained in March-2017 that the M-Seal
MTBF of both pumps was low particularly the inboard primary seals although the pumps were reliable.
The pumps were typically operated on a two out of three basis with switchover 4 x yearly.

When troubleshooting M-Seal failures in general, it’s important to ask questions on:

1. Pump full history, Pump Installation practices, review Seal plan design versus actual.
2. Have the seals been experiencing a reliable life since day one of installation or are they recent failures
due to new deterioration related failure modes.
3. Study the process parameters and compare them to the pump data sheet and M-Seal drawing.
4. Review actual failed seals or at least high resolution photos of disassembled parts. Are the failures on
faces or on the secondary seals? Failing on both inboard and outboard seals?
5. Inspect the pump vibration history on the problem pump and its sister pumps and piping.
6. Logic is an important tool to uncover clues. Search for multiple failure mechanisms.

The failure rate was as follows since installation: On the A, B, and C pumps, average Non-Drive End M-Seal
MTBF was 3.5 years while Drive-End MTBF was averaging 0.75 to 1.50 yrs. on all pumps. Since the process
and flush plan reviews found no major flaws and failures were on the primary faces, this pointed to
mechanical induced deterioration causing seal face opening from multiple possibilities: Axial shuttling,
Lack of pump shaft concentricity to Drive-End bearing or seal housing, High DE bearing-shaft vibration,
Loose DE M-Seal sleeve radially to shaft or axially.

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The Mechanical Seal and API Flush Plan was Reviewed and Found Well Designed. [Image: Flowserve]

A Thorough Analysis of Coupling Hot Alignment Found Poor OEM Figures off by 0.040 inches

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1. The possibility of seal dimensional errors causing looseness of seal sleeves was ruled out by mechanic
feedback and by comparing the seal life on the Non drive end with two pumps achieving 3.5 years
MTBF thus establishing that basic seal design and manufacturing was good.
2. No major shaft axial excessive shuttling was found during operation although this is also linked to item
7 below. This means that there was some axial movement probably in the range of 0.006 to 0.008
inch but it’s not the main failure mechanism. Minor finding.
3. A logical analysis of Drive-End shaft or housing vibration on the three pumps versus Non-Drive showed
that the Drive-End bearings had values of 2.50 to 3.25 mills shaft vibration historically while the NDE
Ends were varying from 0.75 to 1.50 mills. Important Clue.
4. Errors of shaft runout due to bent shaft or internal misalignment were evaluated but shaft runout was
found to be only 0.0005 at DE bearings, and bearing pads showed uniform shaft contact.
5. Two of the pumps were overhauled in the past with extreme precision balancing, but DE vibration still
remained on the high side.
6. The pump baseplates were site inspected for construction errors, piping strain, bolting looseness or
support resonances but none were found.
7. The coupling alignment was then checked and found to be complying to OEM figures. However, our
review found these to be completely wrong, off by 0.040 inches. The plant was given new figures
based upon accurate laser gun thermal measurements on operating machines. Major finding.
8. The shaft coupling is a general purpose coupling which is not factory balanced as an assembly. It
should have been a special purpose coupling per API-671 coupling standard because special purpose
couplings have a mandatory assembly balance. The complete coupling set of both hubs and coupling
spacer plus bolts was sent to central shops and we provided them with detailed balancing procedures
for individual elements and complete assembly. In addition, we requested reduction of the spool to
hub flange register clearances from OEM 0.008 inch diametric to only 0.003 inch diametric. Major
finding of high unbalance on all coupling assemblies.
9. Results: After realignment with new figures and installation of improved repaired couplings, the
machines were started and pump DE Bearing-Shaft vibration under normal rated flow ranged from
0.50 mills to maximum 1.0 mills. NDE vibration was also reduced by 25%.
10. Conclusion: The shaft radial and axial vibration was the primary root cause of early M-Seal failure and
no failures have occurred to the inboard M-Seals since March-2017 which is 2.5 yr. MTBF so far.

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An Overall Look at Modern M-Seal Reliability & Conclusion:
The API-682 and Hydraulic Institute Mechanical Seal Application Guidelines for Pumps provide good rules
for specifying an engineered seal. However, that will only get you to an average two to three-year lifetime
assuming a good pump and installation. Beyond that an additional understanding of seal failure
mechanisms and mechanical reliability will provide the user with proactive tools to achieve high reliability
lifetimes of 5 to 10-year M-Seal MTBF. This means intervention during seal design, pump selection, and
manufacturing stages plus excellent understanding of proper pump installation.

When a seal has failed it’s either an extreme case of internal M-Seal seizure which can typically damage
the shaft, or it’s a gradual external leakage in case of single seals. Both should be considered unacceptable
and seals should not be perceived as a wearing part anymore. High leakage means a failure of the rotating
faces to confine the liquid or failure of the secondary seals such as O-rings behind the faces or under the
sleeve. For Tandem Seals with dry running backup secondary, the primary leakage is typically captured
and since process safety guidelines mandate Dual seals on high vapor pressure liquid applications, Tandem
seals can be designed reliably with modern materials, lift off seals, and failure mechanism knowledge.

Dual seals are increasingly important in many industries such as Chemical and Hydrocarbon Processing.
Increased usage is due to plant hazard safety requirements, reductions in fugitive emissions and the goal
of increased equipment uptime. API-682-3rd Edition and its appendix material describe pressurized
Double Seal geometries. The arrangement comprises two seals per cartridge and an externally supplied
pressurized barrier fluid. In theory, the seal layout and flush arrangement create a beneficial and life-
extending seal environment. However, notice that Double seals have introduced twice the leakage
possibilities since both primary seal excess leakage or secondary seal excess leakage lead to failure to

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contain the sealed liquid or the Buffer fluid and the machine must be stopped. These seals may score high
in safety but are low in reliability because if the typical reliability of a well-designed single seal is 0.995,
then a Double seal will have its overall reliability reduced to a much lower value. The following analysis is
typical for Dual Seals.

Double Seal System Reliability R-total= R[primary] 0.995 x R[secondary] 0.995 x Seal Support System
Reliability 0.98 = 0.97. That is a pretty low reliability figure and if the numbers are not clear, here is the
percentage reduction in reliability:

The difference between a Single Cartridge Seal with 0.995 reliability and a Double Seal reliability of 0.97
is equal to [0.995-0.97]/[1-0.995] = 5.0 x Reduction in Reliability.

This calculation clearly identifies why Dual Seals and in particular Double seals should be minimized when
possible. This also explains the increasing interest of end users towards Sealless Pumping solutions; The
mechanical seal industry has been too busy chasing expensive solutions that fight symptoms only rather
than meeting the customer’s true needs. A well-known Pumping and M-Seal industry consultant, Larry
Bachus has written two outstanding magazine articles highlighting these continuing failure issues:

1. https://www.pumpindustry.com.au/lets-play-the-mechanical-seal-game
2. https://www.pumpindustry.com.au/a-pump-guy-rant-on-seal-reliability

Seal Face Lubrication Regime; The Ideal Face Lubrication for Wet M-Seal Faces Is at Point-2 Just to The
Right of the Boundary Lubrication Line. Increased Fluid Viscosity can be viewed as a “Spring” Providing
Self Balancing Reactive Forces When the Gap Closes. [Illustration: Tribol Lett (2007) 28:139–147]

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