52 SPECIAL SECTION BEARINGS, COUPLINGS & SEALS
Polymer Seals Perform
Reliably After Years of Use
Two sets of seals, in service for 11 and 15 years, still meet
baseline standards.
BY JIM HEBEL
QUADRANT
A
dvanced thermoplastic materials offer
several advantages over aluminum and other
metals for turbo-compressor labyrinth seals.
Polymer seals eliminate the risk of metal tooth
deformation and mating shaft damage during shaft
rubs. This enables end users to tighten initial clearances
and reduce clearance loss over time. Overall compressor
efficiency improves greatly over the life of the seals.
This article provides mechanical property data from
two different sets of seals. The integrity of the seals after
11 and 15 years in service was compared with new, off-
the-shelf seals of the same material.
Image 1. The first set of seals were removed from a natural gas compressor after
11 years in service. (Images and graphics courtesy of Quadrant)
Aug us t 2 0 1 5 | Pumps & S y st e m s
The first set of seals, including five different seals
for evaluation, was installed in 1996 and remained in
service for 11 years in a natural gas compressor. Visually,
the seals were in good condition, with the exception of
damage suffered during the removal process. They each
exhibited damage ranging from a few gouges to being
completely broken.
Upon removal, the in-service seals showed little signs
of wear and the teeth were well-defined and in good
condition. The seals did incur some damage during the
removal process: Some had just a few gouges, and others
were completely broken.
Image 2. The second seal was removed from a different
compressor, which had been in service for 15 years.
 53

Table 1. The two sets of seals used in the evaluation and their descriptions

Summary of received seals

Seal Set 1 - 1 Years in Service Seal Set 2 - 15 Years in Service
B-Case (2) C-Case C-Case C-Case C-Case 8th Stage
2nd Wheel 5th Wheel 4th Wheel 5th Wheel 7th Wheel 2nd Wheel
(possibly)
TCE Part C-029-126-002 D-029-164-005 D-029-100-029 D-029-100- D-029-100- D-029-126-002
Number 029 029

Nova Serial 120201187 120201103 Not identified 120201090 Not 120201187

Number identified
Marking on Not identified 14388 K201C 14387 K201C 14386 K201C 14389 Not identified
Part #5 #4 K201C #7
lower lower
Size 15.242" OD x 18.057" OD x 11.623" OD x 11.623" OD x 11.623" OD 15.242” OD x 12.6” ID x
12.6" 16.4" ID 10.0" 10.0" x 10.0" 2.226”
ID x 2.226” x 1.180” ID x 1.562” ID x 1.562” ID x 1.562”
Seal Config 2-segment 2-segment 2-segment 2-segment 2-segment 2-segment shaft
shaft impeller shaft shaft shaft seal
seal seal seal seal seal
Material Torlon 4540 Torlon 4540 Torlon 4540 Torlon 4540 Torlon 4540 Torlon 4540
Temp 47 to 60 C 49 to 64 C 44 to 57 C 49 to 64 C 61 to 77 C 31 to 45 C
Exposure
Time in 11 yr 11 yr 11 yr 11 yr 11 yr 15 yr
Service

Another seal was evaluated from

a different compressor, which had
been in service for 15 years. This
seal also showed some gouges from
removal and handling during the
compressor’s rebuild. Visit Booth 1414
44th Turbomachinery
Evaluating the Seals 31st Pump Symposia
To evaluate the integrity of the Houston, Texas
seals, the mechanical properties of
the returned seals were compared
with those of standard seals.
Only one seal—from the initial
set, B-case, 2nd wheel—was large
enough to allow full-sized tensile
test bars to be machined.
Tensile properties are the
fingerprint of a material’s
integrity. Full-sized tensile
bars are needed to yield a full
complement of tensile properties,
including strength, modulus and
elongation values.
In addition, other mechanical
properties were evaluated,
including compressive strength

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54 SPECIAL SECTION BEARINGS, COUPLINGS & SEALS

The property values of both the 11-year-old and 15-year-old

compressor seals revealed consistent performance compared
with standard data for the product.

Table 2. The results of the mechanical property testing for both the 11-year-old and 15-year-old polymer labyrinth seals

Summary of received seals

Seal Set 1 Seal Set 2
11 Years in Service 15 Years in Service
Test Duratron T4540 B-Case(2) C-Case C-Case C-Case C-Case 8th Stage
Method Baseline (1)

Recent 2nd 5th 4th 5th 7th 2nd Wheel

Production Wheel Wheel Wheel Wheel Wheel

Specific gravity ASTM 1.47 1.47 NA NA NA NA 1.47

D792

Tensile strength, ASTM 10,516 9,416 NA NA NA NA 10,323

psi D638
Elongation at ASTM 3.40 2.23 NA NA NA NA 3.34
yield, % D638
Elongation at ASTM 3.40 2.23 NA NA NA NA 3.34
break, % D638

Tensile modulus, ASTM 608,843 634,536 NA NA NA NA NA

psi D638
Flex strength, ASTM 11,864 13,217 NA NA NA NA 9,160
psi D790
Flex modulus, ASTM 546,492 608,581 NA NA NA NA 687,283
psi D790
Compressive ASTM 23,606 21,140 21,475 21,136 20,345 21,860 22,132
strength, psi D695
Compressive ASTM 346,670 433,450 437,000 450,000 454,160 456,440 376,060
modulus,psi D695
DSC Tg, oC ASTM 281 280 NA NA NA NA 272
D3418
Moisture content ASTM Dry 0.47 NA NA NA NA 0.58
at time of D570
testing, %
(1) Quadrant production sample data based on averages between 18” x 11” x 6” and 12” x 3.5” x 6” tubular bars
(2) B-Case, 2nd wheel was the only component large enough to allow for a full-sized machined tensile bar, which allowed for tensile strength, elongation
and modulus data. As a result, only compressive data was generated on the other samples.

Aug us t 2 0 1 5 | Pumps & S y st e m s

 55

and modulus. For the initial set of seals,

only compressive test samples could
be machined and tested because of the
limited sample size of the other, smaller
cross-section seals.
The single, 15-year seal underwent a

Simple, Reliable
full complement of testing, except for
tensile modulus testing. Without

enough material to yield a full-sized
tensile bar, the modulus value could not
be determined.
The property values from the
in-service seals were then compared to
a baseline set of data. To determine the
baseline values, compression-molded
tubular bars were used to replicate
the same production process as the
returned, older samples. Two tubes were
pulled from production, test plaques
were machined and tested, and the
results were documented.
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Results
The property values of both the 11-year- Circle 154 on card or visit psfreeinfo.com.
old and 15-year-old compressor seals

*276/855<"
revealed consistent performance
compared with standard data for
the product.
For the 11-year-old seals, the tensile
strength and elongation properties of
the B-case sample were a little lower
than baseline, but the tensile modulus
was higher. The lower properties
were due to slight embrittlement
during service.
The flexural and compressive
properties were higher than current
production, which can also be attributed
to embrittlement. The glass-transition
temperature (Tg) of the 11-year-old
material remained steady at 280 degrees
C, at which no major degradation of
the polymeric structure occurred. The
compressive strength and modulus
values were also tightly packed and
within a 7 percent spread, showing good 'ULOOLQJ0XG
data integrity among the returned seals. EMPSXPSVFRP &DVH6WXG\
For the 15-year-old seal, both tensile
and compressive data matched closely to 1HZ)RU;3.=16HULHV
([SORVLRQSURRI)0&86DSSURYHG
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56 BEARINGS, COUPLINGS & SEALS

Overall compressor efficiency

improves greatly over the
life of the seals.

Image 3. For seals from the B-case sample, tensile strength was
lower than baseline, but tensile modulus was higher.

baseline values, including the tensile elongation. Flexural

strength was less than baseline, while flexural modulus
was above baseline. However, the data was within
acceptable variation considering the age of the polymer.
After 11 and 15 years of service in a natural gas
compressor, the integrity of seals appears to be similar to
current production.
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James Hebel is application development and technical

service manager at Quadrant EPP, where he has been for
14 years. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and
an M.S. in mechanical engineering from
The Catholic University of America. His
prior work experience includes the U.S.
Department of Defense and U.S. Gypsum
Company. He may be reached at james.
hebel@qplas.com or 610-320-6730.

Aug us t 2 0 1 5 | Pumps & S y st e m s

 57

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