The use of steam quenching is limited to its' cooling effect only. The product is always a fire hazard and depending upon the type and brand you purchase, there could be toxicological problems. Keep in mind that the seal is going to wear out or fail at some time and the product will leak out to the atmosphere. Misalignment between the driver and the pump and between the piping and the pump suction is a serious problem at elevated temperatures. The product is costly.
Leakage represents large monetary losses and personnel danger as well as environmental problems.
Heat tracing must be provided throughout the system to prevent the product from becoming too viscous during periods of prolong shut down. No one ever heat traces the stuffing box. Vibration is always a problem with hot oil pumps because the coke attaches to rotating components interfering with the dynamic balance. You always end up pumping a slurry which means frequent impeller adjustments or wear ring replacement and excessive vibration due to the imbalance caused by wear of the rotating parts. Coking on the inside of the suction piping can cause cavitation problems Although there are many techniques available to the seal man to address each of these problems the combination of these problems eliminates most of the common techniques and leaves the customer with very few options to get good seal life.