A turbomachine and a method of operating the turbomachine are disclosed. The turbomachine includes a stator, a rotor including a rotor bearing face, and a face seal assembly including a first segmented seal ring and a second segmented seal ring. The first segmented seal ring includes a plurality of joints and a first flat-contact surface and the second segmented seal ring includes a plurality of segment ends and a second flat-contact surface. One of the first and second segmented seal rings includes a seal bearing face. The second segmented seal ring is coupled to the first segmented seal ring such that the second flat-contact surface is in contact with the first flat-contact surface. The plurality of segment ends is circumferentially offset from the plurality of joints. The first segmented seal ring is slidably coupled to the stator and defines a face seal clearance between the rotor and seal bearing faces.

A stuffing box for sealing a top opening of a vertical pump, including: a housing with a vertical tube for rotatably disposing a shaft of the vertical pump, an annular bearing that: divides the vertical tube in a lower half and an upper half, and fills an annular space between an inner wall of the vertical tube and the shaft, such that as less fluid as possible passes from the lower half through the annular bearing to the upper half, an outlet pipe for discharging the fluid passing through the annular bearing.

An abradable seal includes an outer ring arrangement and an energiser for urging said outer ring arrangement against an opposing surface, wherein an outermost surface of said outer ring arrangement defines a sealing surface of said abradable seal; wherein said outer ring arrangement is configured such that after a first period of operation said sealing surface suddenly transitions from having a relatively large surface area to having a relatively small surface area, so as to cause a sudden increase in internal leakage across the seal at said transition.

A circumferential seal assembly suitable for forming a thin film between a rotatable runner and a sealing ring is presented. The assembly includes an annular seal housing, a rotatable runner, an annular seal ring, and a plurality of groove structures. Each groove structure includes a groove and an optional feed groove. The groove includes at least two adjoining steps defined by base walls arranged to decrease depthwise. Two adjoining base walls are disposed about a base shoulder. Each base shoulder locally redirects a longitudinal flow to form an outward radial flow in the direction of the annular seal ring. The base walls are bounded by and intersect a pair of side walls. A side wall includes side shoulders which narrows the groove widthwise and locally redirects the longitudinal flow to form a lateral flow in the direction of the other side wall. Outward and lateral flows separately or in combination enhance stiffness of a thin-film layer between the annular seal ring and the rotatable runner.

An illustrative embodiment of a shaft seal assembly generally includes a first stator, a second stator, and a throttle member. In one illustrative embodiment, the second stator may be formed with a main body and an access plate positioned radially interior with respect to a portion of the first stator. The first stator and second stator may engage one another about a semi-spherical interface comprised of a convex surface on the second stator and a concave surface on the first stator. The second stator may include an internal channel in which a throttle member may be positioned, wherein a radially interior surface of the throttle member may be positioned a shaft.

The present invention relates to a sealing system for a pump configured to pressurize a volatile liquid, such as liquid ammonia. The sealing system (2) includes a stuffing box (35) forming a barrier chamber (30) and a pump-side seal chamber (43), a mechanical seal (20) arranged in the barrier chamber (30), and a barrier-gas supply system (32) for supplying a barrier gas into the barrier chamber (30). The barrier gas has a pressure higher than a pressure of the volatile liquid in the pump-side seal chamber (43). The pump-side seal chamber (43) is located between an impeller (7) of the pump (1) and the mechanical seal (20). The barrier-gas supply system (32) includes a pressure control valve (50) configured to maintain a constant difference between pressure in the barrier chamber (30) and pressure in the pump-side seal chamber (43).

A labyrinth sealing joint for a turbomachine, for example of an aircraft, includes a rotor element extending about an axis (A), and a stator element extending around the rotor element, the rotor element having two annular lips extending radially outwards and surrounded by at least one abradable element carried by the stator element. A plurality of gas passage cavities are arranged circumferentially next to one another between the two lips which are interconnected by connecting partitions, wherein at least one of the lips has at least one axial gas passage opening that leads into at least some of the cavities, wherein the partitions extend substantially axially between the lips and define sectors of gas passage spaces between them, the sectors of spaces being divided by separation walls for forming the cavities.

An illustrative embodiment of a shaft seal assembly generally includes a first stator, a second stator, and a throttle member. In one illustrative embodiment, the second stator may be formed with a main body and an access plate positioned radially interior with respect to a portion of the first stator. The first stator and second stator may engage one another about a semi-spherical interface comprised of a convex surface on the second stator and a concave surface on the first stator. The second stator may include an internal channel in which a throttle member may be positioned, wherein a radially interior surface of the throttle member may be positioned a shaft.

A pump system includes a housing, a lubricant system, and control circuitry. The housing includes a pump chamber defined by the housing and a throat seal. The lubricant system includes a lubricant pump, a lubricant gallery defined within the housing of the main pump, and a lubricant circuit fluidly connecting the lubricant pump and the lubricant gallery. The throat seal is disposed adjacent to and between the pump chamber and the lubricant gallery. The control circuitry is configured to cause the lubricant pump to pump a purge volume of lubricant through the lubricant system, cause the lubricant pump to stop pumping for a first time period after the lubricant pump has pumped the purge volume, and cause the lubricant pump to pump the purge volume of lubricant through the lubricant system after the first time period.

Apparatus and associated methods relate to a segmented radial seal assembly that includes at least two segments, each segment having a first end and a second end at opposite ends. A first segment first end has a protruding feature and defines a tangential vector from a circumferential ring that is formed by the segmented radial seal. The protruding feature defines a curved face having at least a first axis of curvature that is parallel to the tangential vector. The second segment second end has a recessed feature that is matingly engageable to the first segment first end, thereby forming a first radial seal segment joint. The segmented radial seal assembly is configured to surround a shaft.