Hey Guys,
Anyone have experience with the design of turbo pumps and what kind of seals
they use? More specifically I’m looking into centrifugal pumps and sealing the
shaft from my propellent. I’m seeing mechanical seals being used in a lot of
commercial- non rocketry uses, but I haven’t seen it addressed much anywhere-
I’ve found floating ring seals but that’s it, thought maybe one of you guys
might have more experience in the topic?
My question at that point is what’s the easiest method of sealing the
pump/turbine, is their any method similar to running tradition orings or piston
rings for rotational applications?
My concern with mechanical sealing is the number of components required for a
single seal/ lack of reusability/ tolerances being tight- which are some what
problematic when designing for smaller application uses and budgets. I
recognise I’ll definitely need right tolerances for my impeller and turbines
(which I was hoping to run AM with post processing for surface finish and
dimensions) but i would like to lessen the overall burden in manufacturing if I
can loosen and not be so stringent for the seal tolerances, to save some money.
So yeh, any advice or criticism is welcomed!
Cheers Guys,
Elias