TPS 2017 Preview: Aesseal
Aesseal we’ll be exhibiting its CAPI range in booth 1413 at the Turbomachinery & Pump Symposia in Houston, Texas.
The Aesseal CAPI range is primarily utilised to suit the requirements of the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. The CAPI Type A, B and C seal range offers the user a range of API engineered sealing solutions to suit all application requirements. The category 1, 2 and 3 seals are qualification tested to API 682. Modular design allows the users to select the right solution for their application, with the modular design ensuring simplicity of purchase and fast delivery.
Case study: Increased reliability saves over 1,500,000 ZAR
With an unreliable pump seal, a major South African refinery turned to Aesseal for assistance.
A potash pump fitted with a competitor’s component seal on API Plan 32 using condensate as a flush, had a mean time between failure (MTBF) of just seven months. It was costing more than 1 million Rand per year to repair the seal (excluding the cost of condensate lost to the process). Upon investigation by Aesseal it was discovered that due to the throttle bush clearance, there was insufficient seal chamber pressure. This was causing the seal to run dry, damaging the o-rings and therefore leading to leakage.
Aesseal replaced the component seal with a CAPI A TXS cartridge seal in December 2014. The new seal has been in operation for more than 29 months without failure. Cost savings in the first 12 months of operation were 509,000 Rand, to date (May 2017) more than 1.5 million Rand has been saved. As a result of this success, two additional pumps have also been upgraded.
“The new seals are very user friendly and we already see a cleaner downstream product due to elimination of condensate contamination from the external flush. We have also seen a dramatic drop in the condensate usage.”
Mechanical Rotating Equipment Section Leader.
TPS is a major industry event, offering a forum for the exchange of ideas between rotating equipment engineers and technicians worldwide. It takes place 12-14 December at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX
