Patent ID: 8074995

Claim:
A seal assembly for sealing a liquid region from a gas region across an annular surface of a rotating shaft comprising: a plurality of adjoining annularly sealing ring segments facing the rotating shaft wherein each sealing ring segment includes a dead end circumferential groove machined within a shaft-side face of each sealing ring segment such that, when the segments are joined about the shaft surface, the circumferential dead end groove of each segment extends arcuately in the direction of shaft rotation; at least one additional groove extending across the shaft-side face of each sealing ring segment leading to the dead end circumferential groove wherein the additional groove(s) is in fluid communication with the dead end circumferential groove and directs fluid into the dead end circumferential groove; and a bleed hole or a bleed slot directly extending from the dead end circumferential groove to a joint between adjoining sealing ring segments such that the dead end circumferential groove is in fluid communication with the joint and fluid flow is directed into the joint by way of the bleed hole or the bleed slot.