Phase Change in Liquid Face Seals II—Isothermal and Adiabatic Bounds With Real Fluids

Phase change effects in parallel and tapered liquid face seals are studied analytically. Both an isothermal and adiabatic model of low Reynolds number flow are considered by numerical integration of the descriptive equations for a real fluid. Real fluid thermodynamic properties are calculated for each step, using a computer program for the steam tables or thermodynamic properties of the fluid considered. Examples are presented for water. The general conclusions are: 1. For low leakage rate the isothermal model is more accurate and for high leakage rates the adiabatic model is more accurate. 2. Both parallel models, ordinarily neutrally stable with a liquid, yield the same general conclusions about stability. If the sealed fluid is near enough to saturation conditions, there will exist generally two values of the film gap, h, which yield the same separating force under a given set of operating conditions. For a given speed, face excursions about the larger value are stable, but excursions about the lower value are unstable, either growing to the larger h if displaced apart or collapsing if displaced together. 3. The transient of collapse is described by the adiabatic model which predicts a catastrophic collapse and then either failure or explosive return to a larger value of h. 4. Converging seals (ordinarily stable with a liquid at some given value of h) may become unstable, the phase change effect dominating the behavior and giving rise to collapse as described above. 5. The mass leakage rate is reduced significantly below the all liquid value when boiling occurs.