Proceedings of the First Middle East Turbomachinery Symposium

February 13-16, 2011, Doha, Qatar

GAS SEAL CONTAMINATION

Raphael Bridon Olivier Lebigre

Components Focus Factory Manager Components Customer Support Manager
Dresser-Rand Dresser-Rand
Le Havre, France Le Havre, France
[email protected] [email protected]

ABSTRACT Below is a typical centrifugal compressor cut-

away (figure 1) showing the location of the seals.
Design of seals and sealing systems requires Their location is quite strategic as they are the
multidisciplinary skills and deep understanding of interface between the inside of the compressor (gas
interactions between the seals and its environment. process at high-pressure, high-temperature) and the
This paper proposes to present typical gas seals atmosphere (air and oil mist from the bearing cavity).
contaminants and corresponding consequences. It will Due to the balance line, the gas seal “only” has
then describe the process typically used to perform the to deal with the intake pressure of the compressor.
root cause analysis and leading to a proposed fix. As we will explain later, the gas seal requires a
high-quality gas to operate so instead of using the gas
INTRODUCTION present in the balance line, the seals are fed with a
clean and dry gas usually taken at the discharge of the
Dry gas seals are widely used in centrifugal compressor.
compressors to prevent process gas leakage to external This gas is dried, filtered, heated if necessary
environment and bearing oil migration to the process. and its pressure lowered to the intake pressure plus
Due to their operation under very tight running epsilon before being injected at the primary port of the
tolerances, contamination of the dry gas seals can seal.
result in catastrophic failures and make them one of
the most critical components of the centrifugal Intake Discharge
compressors.
Pi
Pd

DRY GAS SEALS PRINCIPLE

Pi+ Pi+
There is no means to have a totally leak free
sealing system between two parts in relative
movement (i.e., between a static and a rotating part;
Pi Gas vein Balance Pi Gas seal
between a housing and a shaft; in pumps, thermal line
motors...).
There are more or less efficient devices able to Figure 1. Centrifugal compressor cut-away.
limit:
• Leaks The gas seal principle is simple (figure 2).The
• Friction leakage (process gas) must be routed to a safe area;
• Wear at the interface of the moving parts. therefore, the leakage is forced to pass between a static
Gas seals are among the most efficient means to and a rotating part. The rotating part is a grooved ring
reduce process gas leakage to the atmosphere and to driven by the compressor shaft. The static part is a ring
reduce wear and friction. facing the rotating ring, but that only has light axial
The gas seal is also a reliable means to route movement.
effluent leaks to safe areas. The efficiency of the When rotating, an aerodynamic effect generated
whole process benefits from the gas seal system. by the grooves creates a gap (from 4 to 10 microns)
between the rotating and stationary rings. The flow

Copyright © 2011 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M University

generated by the pressure differential leaks between with a buffer gas (generally nitrogen). This prevents
the two faces, then the gas leakage is routed to the hazardous seal gas from leaking to the atmosphere.
venting system of the machine (flare) or vent. Clean
gas
To
flare
Inert
gas
To
vent
Separation gas (Air or N2)

Because of the gas film between the faces, a

constant gap between the faces prevents the parts from
rubbing against each other and makes the gas seal a
contact-free device.

Vent
(atmospheric To process Bearing vent
pressure+’)
Dry and clean
gas
(Pi+)
Inner INBOARD OUTBOARD
labyrinth

Figure 3. Tandem gas seal with intermediate labyrinth.

Double opposed (back to back) gas seal: Used

Process side when the process gas is dirty or the sealing pressure is
(Pi)
close to atmospheric pressure (figure 4). A sealing gas
(typically auxiliary gas) is needed, such as nitrogen,
Figure 2. Cut away and cross section of a simplified sweet gas, or fuel gas.
gas seal. The configuration consists of two sealing faces
(rotating ring and static seats) in a back-to-back
arrangement. The advantage is the lower number of
Typical gas seals arrangements ports required: one for the sealing gas, one for the
Tandem gas seal: Typically used for non- vent, one for the separation gas, and one for the buffer
hazardous gases. gas (optional).
The sealing gas is injected at a pressure slightly Due to the pressure differential between the
above the inboard pressure, so that a vast majority inboard side of the gas seal and the sealing gas port
(more than 80 percent) of it passes under the inner and between the vent and the sealing gas port, the flow
labyrinth teeth. The remainder (less than 20 percent) is not symmetrical (a majority of the sealing gas enters
passes through the gap created by the lift off effect and the machine).
leaks to the flare (18 percent) and the last sealing gas Generally in low-pressure applications, the
residues (2%) leaks through the secondary stage to the available process gas pressure that is not suitable to
vent. feed the gas seal, so an alternate source must be
The other important device in the compressor considered (i.e., nitrogen, fuel gas).
seal is the tertiary seal. It can be a labyrinth or The nature of the sealing gas must also be
segmented carbon rings. Its duty is to prevent bearing compatible with the nature of the process; nitrogen or
oil mist migration to the seal and sealing gas migration fuel gas can involve chemical reactions in the process
to the bearing oil. This separation is made by a gas or damage the catalyst.
leak that prevents the oil from entering the gas seal Inert To Separation gas (Air or N2)
gas vent
area on the inboard side and that prevents the sealing
gas coming from the secondary stage of the seal from Ref. Pressure
polluting the bearing oil.
So depending on the nature of the separation
gas, the gas seal vent may vent a mixture of sealing
gas (hydrocarbon) and nitrogen which is acceptable, or Bearing vent
a mixture of sealing gas and air.

Tandem gas seal with intermediate labyrinth:

INBOARD OUTBOARD
Used when the process gas is hazardous: i.e., lethal
gas, flammable gas, or when condensates at primary
seal outlet (figure 3). A buffer gas is needed, such as Figure 4. Double opposed gas seal.
nitrogen, sweet gas, or fuel gas.
The principle is the same as in the tandem gas GAS SEAL CONTAMINANTS
seal with the addition of an intermediate labyrinth fed

Copyright © 2011 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M University

Gas seal interfaces  Particles from unclean piping (seal supply lines,
Dry gas seals interface with the compressor vent lines)
process inner labyrinth, compressor heads, and journal  Particles from corroded piping, compressor or gas
bearings. Gas seals supply, vent and drain; ports are seals components
then drilled in the compressor heads and connected to  Particles in the process gas (figure 6).
seal support system.
All interfaces with the gas seal and its
environment are potential pollution paths. Black
arrows in Figure 5 are pollution paths. Pollution
occurs:

 On the inboard side if the untreated process gas

leaks through the compressor inner labyrinth
when the seal gas pressure is lower than the
reference pressure
 On the outboard side in the compressor bearing
oil when the separation seal is damaged or fails,
or there is insufficient separation gas (air or
nitrogen) Figure 6. Black powder coming from compressor
 In the seal supply ports in the compressor head if inner labyrinth.
sealing gas is not adequately treated in the gas
seal system located upstream of the gas seal or if Pollution can occur because of:
piping is dirty  Poor or non-existent filtration of sealing gas
 In the vent lines if dirt remains or if liquids can  Reverse pressurization of the gas seal
be trapped or do not drain.  Insufficient flow under the compressor inner
labyrinth (figure 7).
Seal Supply Flare Vent Separation
Gas System System Gas

Process Bearing
Gas Oil

INBOARD OUTBOARD

Figure 5. Gas seal pollution paths.

Contaminant origins and consequences

To avoid gas seal pollution and because of the
very thin running gap between rotating and static
faces, it is necessary to properly treat sealing gas
Figure 7. Salty deposit on gas seal housing.
upstream of the gas seal. Additionally, seal gas quality
must be ensured at all times, during all operating
Consequences
sequences such as standby, start-up, running, and
Because the running gap between static and rotating
shutdown.
faces is around 5 microns, any particle larger than the
Sealing gas is usually required to be free of gap will cause erosion of the faces (figures 8 and 9)
particles 3 microns (absolute) and larger and 99.97
leading to an increase in the gas leakage and
percent free of liquids.
eventually failure of the gas seal.
Where very thin particles are present, particle
Contaminants can be either solids, liquids or
accumulation and clogging of the rotating seat grooves
gaseous.
results in a loss of the lift-off effect and again failure
of the gas seal.
Nature of foreign particles
Foreign particles can be:

Copyright © 2011 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M University

 Another consequence can be damage of the rotating seat and eventually failure of the rotating and /
secondary sealing surfaces and more specifically of or static rings. In addition static faces are commonly
the balance diameter. made of carbon and are therefore subject to blistering
due to the porous nature of this material.

Gaseous pollution
Seal gas is not inherently a pollutant for the seal,
assuming it is adequately treated upstream of the gas
seal. However, some pollution could occur if a
chemical reaction develops:
 Between the seal gas components themselves, for
instance polymerization of the seal gas
 Between seal gas components and gas seal / gas
seal panel components’ materials, such as a reaction
between sulfur present in the seal gas stream and
nickel present in the rotating ring (figure 10).
Figure 8. Scratched static seat.

Clogged grooves by nickel

sulfide

Figure 10. Gaseous pollution of rotating ring.

Figure 9. Scratched dynamic seat.
As a contact-free sealing device, the gas seal
does not require any maintenance of the cartridge
Liquid pollution itself. However, in operation, some periodic
Liquid pollution can: maintenance of the seal is preferred to check for any
 Result from bearing oil leakage through the pollution, check the condition of the carbon rings and
separation seal or migration along the shaft line replacement of O-ring which have a limited life span.
 Be present in the process gas stream if there is no, This periodic maintenance is an opportunity to
or an inappropriately designed, coalescer in the control the condition of operation, the efficiency of the
filtering system panel and take corrective action if required.
 Be due to the condensation of the sealing gas; seal
gas is most commonly taken from the compressor As a consequence, providing both gas seal and
discharge, filtered and then expands as it passes gas seal system are properly designed, a gas seal
through the gas seal system components, such as the failure is always an accident and shall not be
filter, valves, orifices and gas seal faces; as pressure considered unavoidable. Thus, a root cause analysis
drops, temperature decreases and could result in the (RCA) of each seal failure shall be conducted. Due to
seal gas entering in the liquid phase the nature of the gas seal (tight running tolerances,
 Result from contamination by corrosion inhibitors multiple interfaces), such analysis is quite complex
present in the process piping. and a rigorous methodology needs to be applied.

Process leading to damage ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

Condensates at the gas seal interface will lead to a
degradation of the lift-off effect, friction between The root cause of the failure is sometimes
static and rotating seats, heat generation, parts obvious (seal gas supply failure, nitrogen supply
deformation, O-rings extrusion, thermal shock on the shortage, abnormal operating conditions). It may be

Copyright © 2011 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M University

reported by the end user of the machine or be obvious pollution or damage to record areas of pollution and
after a gas seal inspection. check for any problem concerning the gas seal
assembly
The root cause would most likely be difficult to
identify, because it must be determined if observed c) Then the gas seal outboard housing is
damages are a consequence of the failure or the cause. removed. This makes it possible to check secondary
Thus, a detailed gas seal failure root cause analysis ring sealing surfaces (static seat and rotating seat).
process has been developed in order to address all
potential contributing factors and fix the problem for
certain.
The process consists of:
 Detailed inspection of the seals / lab analysis of
pollution if required
 Collecting a maximum of gas seal environment
data / analysis
 Elimination of failure scenario that do not
corroborates with data, collecting additional data
if required
 Conclusion

Detailed inspection process

a) When a detailed inspection of a failed seal is

conducted, an inspection of the associated opposite gas Figure 12. external and internal gas seal inspection.
seal is recommended. Indeed, it is recommended to
dismantle the unit and inspect both seals in case of The outboard side is most likely to be polluted
failure for two reasons: by oil. Location of lube oil should be checked to
 First, in the case of a gas seal failure, it is identify whether lube oil was leaking through the
very likely that the opposite gas seal has separation barrier or if the source is a gas seal /
encountered the same pollution/damages. compressor shaft O-ring problem.
 Second, it is helpful to have both seals Then the nature and location of any pollution is
available for inspection because the second identified (for example, on the rings, under spring
gas seal provides clues depending on support, on buffer gas port, etc).
whether it is not damaged or less damaged
than the failed one. In the case of unidentified pollution, samples
are taken in order to conduct laboratory analysis.
These analyses give some indication on the origin of
the pollution. In figure 13, sulfur deposit is detected.

Figure 11. Two opposite seals inspection.

Figure 11 shows two primary rotating seats

from the same machine. Because the intake gas seal
has failed, it is very difficult to analyze any pollution
and draw out any conclusion. Pollution is much more
visible on discharge gas seal and was instrumental in Figure 13. lab analysis of black deposit on rotating
the root cause identification. seat.

b) The gas seal cartridge is inspected externally d) The tandem sleeve is extracted in order to
(figure 12), pictures are taken to detect any external open inboard stage; primary ring sealing surfaces are
checked for pollution or damages.

Copyright © 2011 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M University

 e) Then, checking each stage, the condition of
the balance diameter is reviewed because it is a very
sensitive area that requires a perfect surface finish. At
that time, a thorough scrutiny of inboard and outboard
housings is also carried out.

f) Finally, the gas seal is fully dismantled in

order to check the condition of all O-rings, search for
any pollution under static seats and rotating seats and
look for any damage on all the parts.

Data collection
Figure 14. P&ID used for root cause analysis.
Investigation of gas seals direct environment is
mandatory in order to go further in the RCA. Compressor cross section and head drawings
Collecting gas seal environment data is a key phase (figure 15) are used to check if failure scenarios are
and is not an easy task because it involves different compatible with compressor design. Figure 15 shows
actors such as: how water-washes lead to liquid accumulation on the
 End user of the compressor intake sides through the balance line and because of
 Maintenance subcontractor the inlet side is cooler than the discharge.
 Field service representative of seal supplier
 Compressor manufacturer.

A database of all manufactured gas seals has

been developed (each gas seal is identified by a serial
number). This makes available all original gas seals
data (operating conditions, gas analysis, arrangement)
for any gas seal.

This database is also used to record all

refurbishments or repairs performed on a gas seal after
original delivery. This makes it possible to have the
whole story of a specific gas seal or all seals of the
same service. This information is valuable to a root
cause analysis.
Figure 15. Compressor cross section.
It is required to gather the following
information from different engineering disciplines: Information from installation site is necessary.
 Compressor design: All available information from the site related to the
 Compressor head: gas seal ports, draining seal failure and the seal operation shall be collected.
 Journal bearing configuration This could include:
 Process side: inner labyrinth, balance piston,  A field report from field service representative
balance line recorded observations (visual for example) and
 Gas seal system measurements taken may help in identifying the
 Lube oil system. failure scenario. On-site observations from client
personnel can also be important.
The sealing gas P&ID (figure 14) is analyzed to  Trends of operating conditions and gas seal
check if failure scenarios are compatible with system parameters at the time of the failure are analyzed
design (flow control, pressure control, presence of (figure 16).
auxiliary seal gas supply, etc).

Copyright © 2011 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M University

 highlights only the root cause compatible with all
provided data.

As an alternative, formal root cause analysis

sessions involving compressor product engineers, gas
seal OEM representatives, and field representatives are
organized using commonly published root cause
analysis methods (Ishikawa diagram method, 5-Whys,
etc).

CONCLUSION

As can be seen from the above article,

Figure 16. snapshots of trends of gas seal data at performing a gas seal failure root cause analysis is a
failure period. difficult task involving several disciplines, several
actors and can be a lengthy process.
 Up-to-date gas analysis and operating conditions
Root cause analysis can lead to gas seal or
(inlet and discharge pressure / temperature, settle
system design adjustments such as:
out pressure, ambient conditions, number of
starts/stops, running hours, etc) and operating  Implementation of a conditioning skid: heater,
sequence; these data provide the necessary scrubber, filter, mercury trap, booster
information for the actual phase map analysis and  Modification of operating sequences
can confirm if condensates and / or hydrates can  Addition of heat tracing
form in the gas seal system (figure 17).
Condensation / hydrate formation mostly occur
during transient phases: start-up / settle out, etc. Finally, it should be mentioned that these
design adjustments may help improving gas seal
system reliability but it can also be improved by:
 Training the on-site operators to provide in-depth
knowledge of the seal and sealing systems
specificities
SOP
 Ensuring gas seals installation and dismantling
from the compressor is done by trained personnel
36°C = new temperature
18°C switch from N2 to process  Implementing periodic checks on the system, such
gas for cold startup or SOP
as weekly draining of low points, visual check of
vents.

REFERENCES

Stahley, J., 2001, “Design, operation, and maintenance

considerations for improved dry gas seal performance
Figure 17. Phase map analysis. in centrifugal compressors”, Proceedings of the 30th
Turbomachinery Symposium, Turbomachinery
Failure scenario Laboratory, Texas A&M University, College Station,
Texas, pp. 203-207..
As a result of the inspection, the analysis of gas
seal environment data, the failure root cause(s) can Stahley, J., 2005, Dry Gas Seals Handbook, Tulsa,
usually be identified. Oklahoma, Pennwell

If this is not sufficient, an additional diagnostic ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

tool can be used. A failure mode and effect database
has been designed which links any observation The authors would like to thank all Dresser-Rand
collected during gas seal inspection and all data parties involved in the root cause analysis process. We
concerning gas seal environment with the potential also want to thank Dresser-Rand for permission to
root causes. This database is used to generate the most publish this work.
likely root cause because of an algorithm that

Copyright © 2011 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M University