Patent ID: 8167545

Claim:
A self-balancing face seal assembly comprising: a rotatable seal runner having a first seal runner face and an opposing second seal runner face; a stator first face seal having a first seal face and operative to form a first seal with the first seal runner face, the first face seal being one of a hydrostatic seal and a hydrodynamic seal; a stator second face seal having a second seal face and operative to form a second seal with the second seal runner face, the second face seal being one of a hydrostatic seal and a hydrodynamic seal; a biasing member operative to space the first seal face from the second seal face at a defined clearance distance, wherein the bias member applies a bias force that acts in a substantially similar direction as one of a hydrostatic force and a hydrodynamic force during operation to maintain a desired separation between both the first seal face and first seal runner face and the second seal face and the second seal runner face; and a carrier operative to movably position both the first face seal relative to the first seal runner face and the second face seal relative to the second seal runner face, and wherein the seal runner is positioned between the first seal face and the second seal face.