Seal assembly for machinery housing
A seal assembly for a machinery housing includes a seal ring having a micro heat exchanger and a gland plate for securing the seal ring to the machinery housing. The gland plate includes a cooling fluid port in communication with the micro heat exchanger.
1. A seal assembly for intended use in a machinery housing including a rotating drive shaft, comprising:
a rotary seal ring contacting
a stationary seal ring having a micro heat exchanger; and
a gland plate securing said stationary seal ring to said machinery housing, said gland plate including a first cooling fluid port in communication with said micro heat exchanger.
2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said gland plate further includes a second cooling fluid port in communication with said micro heat exchanger, said first cooling fluid port acting as a cooling fluid inlet while said second cooling fluid port acts as a cooling fluid outlet.
3. The assembly of claim 2 , further including a cooling fluid supply for circulating cooling fluid through said micro heat exchanger.
4. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said gland plate includes an annular groove and a group of cooling fluid collection ports in communication with said annular groove and said micro heat exchanger.
5. The assembly of claim 4 , wherein said first cooling fluid port has a flow area A, where A>5B and B is equal to flow area of said micro heat exchanger.
6. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said stationary seal ring includes a heat sink cover plate and a backing ring.
7. The assembly of claim 6 wherein said cover plate is coated with a material selected from a group consisting of silicon carbide, tungsten carbide, carbon graphite, silicon nitride, diamond-like carbon and mixtures thereof.
8. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein said micro heat exchanger comprises a plurality of cooling fins carried on one of said heat sink cover plate and said backing ring.
9. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein each of said plurality of cooling fins has a cross-sectional dimension of between about 10-1000 microns.
10. The assembly of claim 9 , wherein edge-to-edge spacing between adjacent cooling fins is about 100-1000 microns.
11. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein said heat sink cover plate has a thickness of about 10-5000 microns.
12. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein said plurality of cooling fins have a cross-sectional shape selected from a group consisting of round, elliptical, polygonal, and mixtures thereof.
13. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein said plurality of cooling fins have a cross-sectional shape selected from a group consisting of triangular, rectangular, square, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal, trapezoidal, star-shaped, and mixtures thereof.
14. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein said gland plate further includes a third port for delivering an exterior cooling flush fluid to said seal assembly.
15. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein said plurality of cooling fins are coated with a material selected from a group consisting of silicon carbide, tungsten carbide, carbon graphite, silicon nitride, diamond- like carbon and mixtures thereof.
16. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein an interface between the gland plate and the drive shaft associated with the machinery housing is sealed.
17. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said seal ring includes at least one O-ring seal for sealing said cooling fluid in said micro heat exchanger.
18. The assembly of claim 1 , further including a cooling fluid supply for circulating cooling fluid through said micro heat exchanger.
19. A seal assembly for a machinery housing including a shaft comprising:
a rotary seal ring contacting
a stationary seal ring having a micro heat exchanger and an opening;
a gland plate for securing said seal ring to said machinery housing, said gland plate including a port for introducing a cooling fluid to the micro heat exchanger and an adaptor ring in the opening;
wherein the adaptor ring and stationary seal ring together define a space adjacent the shaft for receiving the cooling fluid from the micro heat exchanger.
20. A seal assembly for a machinery housing, comprising:
a rotary seal ring contacting
a stationary seal ring having a micro heat exchanger; and
a gland plate for securing said stationary seal ring to said machinery housing and contacting the seal ring on at least three sides, said gland plate including a first cooling fluid port in communication with said micro heat exchanger.
21. The assembly of claim 20 , wherein the gland plate is unitary.
22. A seal assembly for a machinery housing, comprising:
a rotary seal ring contacting
a stationary seal ring having a micro heat exchanger and including a distribution annulus, a collection annulus, and an array of collection ports connecting the distribution annulus to the collection annulus; and
a gland plate for securing said stationary seal ring to said machinery housing, said gland plate including a first cooling fluid port in communication with the collection ports of said stationary seal ring.
23. The assembly of claim 22 , wherein a shaft is positioned in the housing and the collection ports are axially arrayed around the shaft.