Who Uses Mechanical Seals?

• Everyone in the industrialized world uses mechanical seals. Various pieces of rotary or rotating equipment, pumps, in particular, depend on mechanical seals to control leakage. Familiar rotary equipment devices include automobile water pumps, washing machines, dishwashers, compressors, swimming pool pumps, and farm service pumps. Mechanical seals are used anywhere that liquid and gases are transferred by rotating equipment.

•  Pumps are one of the most widely sold pieces of equipment in the industry, second only to electric motors. Pumps are found in all industries, large buildings and households, farming operations, mining, construction and city services. Although some of the small, inexpensive pumps are disposable (i.e. automotive water pumps), most pumps require packing or mechanical seals to control leakage between the rotating elements and stationary housings. These packings and seals must be serviced to insure controlled leakage is maintained
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•  The maintenance of pumping systems is what we will focus on in the following sections. We will learn that some products are allowed to drip without concern, while others must not leak more than a few parts per million (PPM) and need to be monitored closely with electronic detection devices.