A mechanical seal (often shortened to seal) is an indispensable critical component for fluid machinery and power equipment. It plays a vital role for individual machines, workshops and even the whole plant. Below we analyze its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of Mechanical Seals:
1. Excellent sealing performance.
Mechanical seals maintain stable sealing status during long-term continuous operation. The leakage rate can generally be controlled at 3~5 mL/h. Compared with soft packing seals, the leakage volume is extremely low, only 1% of that of soft packing seals.
2. Long service life.
In water and oil media, mechanical seals can work for one to two years or longer; even in corrosive media, their service life exceeds half a year, far longer than soft packing seals.
3. Low power consumption.
The contact area of the seal faces is small, and its friction power loss accounts for only 10%~50% of soft packing seals.
4. Minimal wear on shafts and shaft sleeves.
Hardly any relative motion occurs at the contact surfaces of mechanical seals, so shafts and shaft sleeves suffer almost no abrasion.
5. Good cushioning and anti-vibration performance.
Thanks to mature elastic element design, mechanical seals feature reliable cushioning and vibration resistance and operate more stably under harsh working conditions.
6. Wide application range.
Mechanical seals can operate under high temperature, low temperature, high pressure, vacuum and strong corrosion environments.
Disadvantages of Mechanical Seals：
Mechanical seals feature a complex structure; installation and replacement are cumbersome. Handling accidental failures is difficult. Meanwhile, they are relatively expensive and require high one-time investment.
