John Crane Unveils Advanced Seal for Ethane Pipeline Reliability

John Crane has unveiled the Type 8628VL, a cutting-edge mechanical seal made to meet the most exacting specifications of the oil and gas industry.’

This next-generation seal uses spiral groove non-contacting technology to improve dependability, operational efficiency, and environmental compliance in ethane and ethylene pipelines that encounter temperature and pressure fluctuations.

As fluid phases change between liquid, vapor, and supercritical states, ethane pipelines encounter difficult problems that frequently jeopardize traditional sealing.

This is fixed by the Type 8628VL, which has two non-contacting seal faces lined up in tandem. Spiral groove non-contacting faces provide improved hydrodynamic lift, phase-change resilience, and zero-wear performance, enabling pipelines to function without friction and wear while using process fluids as lubricants, according to a peer-reviewed study published in Lubricants (MDPI).

A company that transmits ethane along the U.S. Gulf Coast faced challenges related to pressure fluctuations during phase changes. The transition of ethane from liquid at around 18°C (65°F) and 40 bar (580 psi) to vapor at about 32°C (89°F) led to sealing difficulties, impacting overall uptime.

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To address this issue, the operator installed four Type 8628VL seals on pumps operating near 1100 psi. These pumps ran continuously for three months but encountered occasional shutdowns during that time.

At the end of this period, the results were very encouraging: all phases, liquid, vapor, and supercritical, demonstrated reliable performance with non-contacting operation. Leakage was minimal, and impressively, there were no failures throughout the entire duration of use. This performance not only met but exceeded expectations, giving the operator a trustworthy and durable sealing solution that facilitated uninterrupted operations.