Seals improve vacuum dryer efficiency
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A processor making chemicals for use in the aerospace industry needed seals for a horizontal rotary vacuum dryer, which would not allow grease or particles from packings to enter the process. The company had been using an unsplit double-faced mechanical seal, which was not able to hold vacuum, causing drying times to be excessively long. The seals were expensive to replace and failed frequently.
The dryer shaft diameter is 267mm, turning at 4 rpm. Process temperature is 160C/320F and pressure ranges from 20mm Hg vacuum to 14 psig. Different products are dried in the dryer in separate batches. The products consist of abrasive pastes, containing a variety of solvents. No one elastomer material was compatible with all the processes so Meco designed a mechanically-driven (elastomer-free) 'Ex-Pac' model seal for the dryer.
Advantages provided by the Meco seals include the ability to accomodate both thermal growth and run-out motion of the shaft, as well as changes in process pressure during the drying cycle. The Meco seals hold the vacuum throughout the cycle, resuling in the drying process time being shortened by 50 percent on many batches.
30 May 2006
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