Windback Floating Oil Seal Optimization Using CFD

Floating oil ring seals are used at the shaft ends of centrifugal compressors to eliminate process gas leakage to the atmosphere. The windback feature of the seals consists of several spiral grooves machined into the inside diameter of the seal ring. These grooves use the rotation of the shaft to reduce sealing oil leakage. Because of the complex fluid behavior in and around a windback seal, it is…