Patent ID: 7432620

Claim:
An electric power generator comprising: a generator housing containing a cooling fluid; a rotor shaft extending through said housing; a seal assembly positioned about said rotor shaft to prevent leakage of cooling fluid from said generator housing, said seal assembly comprising: a bracket affixed to said housing, wherein said bracket includes an inlet connectable to power plant piping external to said generator for receiving a supply of sealing fluid, said power plant piping being connectable along a radial position that may vary from plant-to-plant, said inlet in communication with a bracket passageway for admitting the sealing fluid in a radially inner section of the bracket; and a sealing cartridge mountable in an annulus defined by said bracket, wherein said sealing cartridge includes at least one cartridge passageway in communication with said bracket passageway for admitting the supply of sealing fluid and passing said supply of sealing fluid to establish a sealing boundary about the rotor shaft, wherein at least one of the bracket or the sealing cartridge includes a first sealing-fluid distribution structure extending along a circumferential direction for providing fluid flow communication between the bracket passageway and the at least one passageway in the sealing cartridge to supply the sealing fluid to establish the sealing boundary about the rotor shaft regardless of a variable installation position of said bracket to accommodate variation in the radial position of the power plant piping for receiving the supply of sealing fluid.