Patent ID: 7559554

Claim:
A sealing arrangement for sealing between first and second relatively rotatable bodies the sealing arrangement being located between an area subject to relatively high pressure on one axial side of the sealing arrangement and an area subject to relatively low pressure on the other axial side thereof, the sealing arrangement comprising: a plurality of sealing units in axial fluid flow series, each sealing unit comprising at least one sealing member that extends radially from the first relatively rotatable body towards the second relatively rotatable body to resist the axial fluid flow, each sealing unit having a pressure drop thereacross in operation, at least one of the sealing units comprising a brush seal, the sealing units being axially spaced apart, whereby adjacent sealing units define a plurality of adjacent inter-seal regions therebetween, and each adjacent inter-seal region connected to a seal bypassing apparatus constructed to maintain the pressure drop across each sealing unit within predetermined limits.