A Novel High-Pressure Rotary Shaft Seal Facilitates Innovations in Drilling and Production Equipment (1997)

A Novel High-Pressure Rotary Shaft Seal Facilitates Innovations in Drilling and Production Equipment M.S. Kalsi; M.S. Kalsi Kalsi Engineering, Inc. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar W.T. Conroy; W.T. Conroy Kalsi Engineering, Inc. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar L.L. Dietle; L.L. Dietle Kalsi Engineering, Inc. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar J.D. Gobeli J.D. Gobeli Kalsi Engineering, Inc. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 1997. Paper Number: SPE-37627-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/37627-MS Published: March 04 1997 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Kalsi, M.S., Conroy, W.T., Dietle, L.L., and J.D. Gobeli. "A Novel High-Pressure Rotary Shaft Seal Facilitates Innovations in Drilling and Production Equipment." Paper presented at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 1997. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/37627-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search AbstractThis paper describes the principle of operation, laboratory test results, and field performance of a novel high pressure rotary shaft seal and the key features of implementations which have made a number of oilfield drilling and production equipment innovations technically and economically feasible in recent years.IntroductionBy far the most critical element in the equipment used in many drilling and production applications is the rotary shaft seal, which often becomes the limiting component from the standpoint of reliability and economics. Conventional elastomeric and high performance plastic seals, e.g., chevron packings, spring-energized PTFE seals, V-seals, and U-cup seals, are used extensively in such applications. All of these seals rely on the brute force approach and suffer from the same basic disadvantage, i.e., if they're doing a good job of sealing, they're doing an excellent job of grabbing the shaft and a poor job of lubricating the shaft-to-seal interface. This results in high friction, excessive heat, scorching, blistering, and abrasive wear of the seal material, and severe grooving of the shaft, especially as pressure (P) and velocity (V) increase. The PxV values for the conventional elastomeric and polymeric seal designs are limited to around 200,000 psi×ft/min or less as a result of poor lubrication. A novel seal that works on a fundamentally different principle of operation (Fig. 1) has been developed which overcomes these limitations, thus making a number of drilling and production equipment innovations technically and economically feasible in the recent years. The patented design is based on hydrodynamic lubrication principle, which prevents direct rubbing contact between the seal and shaft by forcing a lubricant film at this interface which eliminates wear, dramatically lowers the friction coefficients, and extends the PxV capabilities of the seal to 3.7×106 psi×ft/min. Further developments in the seal design and implementation hardware, partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, have resulted in key innovations that have extended its pressure capabilities and ability to tolerate the large shaft motions encountered in severe drilling applications and large equipment. The seal has proven its field worthiness, reliability, consistency, long life, and cost effectiveness in downhole drilling motor sealed bearing applications, high pressure rotary blowout preventers used in underbalanced drilling, high pressure and high speed swivels, top drives of progressive cavity artificial lift pumps, and is now being introduced into a new generation of advanced rotary steerable systems.P. 469^ Keywords: rotary shaft seal, differential pressure, hydrodynamic seal, drilling equipment, speiiadc 37627, seal carrier, seal design, bearing assembly, upstream oil & gas, implementation Subjects: Drilling Operations, Drilling Equipment, Directional drilling This content is only available via PDF. 1997. SPE/IADC Drilling Conference You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.