PACKING ASSEMBLY FOR A PUMP
A header ring for use in a stuffing box comprising an annular body portion of an elastomeric material, an annular radially inward projecting sealing lip portion formed on said body portion and an annular, axially facing pedestal portion formed on said body portion, said pedestal portion defining an annularly extending radially inwardly facing pedestal surface, the sealing lip portion defining an annularly extending, radially inward facing sealing surface, the sealing surface and the pedestal surface forming a juncture, at least a portion of the pedestal portion adjacent the juncture and forming the pedestal surface and at least a portion of the sealing lip portion adjacent the juncture and forming a portion of the sealing surface being comprised of a layer of reinforced elastomeric material bonded to the body portion.
This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/018,538 filed on Jan. 1, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a packing or seal assembly for a pump and more particularly to a header ring for use in such an assembly.
2. Description of Prior Art
Piston pumps or plunger pumps are positive displacement pumps and are commonly used in environments where the fluids which are being handled pose problems such as high temperatures, viscous and very viscous media or solids-charged liquids.
One important use of plunger pumps is in the oil and gas industry and particularly in the drilling, completion and/or stimulation of oil or gas wells. In these applications, it is common to employ solids laden drilling fluids, e.g., muds, cement slurries, fracturing slurries, acids and the like, which frequently must be pumped under high pressure into the well. This is particularly true in the case of completion and/or stimulation procedures where very high pressures are employed and the fluids being handled are typically slurries which make the fluids highly abrasive because of the large solids content of the slurries.
As is well known in the art, positive displacement reciprocating plunger-type pumps in this environment pose difficult sealing problems at the high pressure end where the abrasive fluid must be prevented from leaking between the reciprocating plunger and the cylinder or housing within which it reciprocates.
Although a variety of sealing or packing systems are known to seal between the reciprocating plunger and the cylinder, a typical seal arrangement comprises one or more V-shaped or Chevron packing rings with various male and female adaptor rings at the forward and rearward ends of the packing assembly. To ensure sealing between the plunger and the cylinder, the sealing assembly can be placed under compression by an adjusting ring, spring loading, etc.
A typical packing assembly of the type under discussion includes a header ring which is typically made of an elastomeric material. The header ring can be constructed of a homogeneous elastomeric material or an elastomeric material containing layers of cloth or other reinforcing type materials. It is also known to cover certain surfaces of the header ring, particularly the so-called rearward surfaces with a reinforcing fabric.
It has been found that, with respect to the header ring, failure of the sealing assembly primarily occurs due to a phenomena known as “nibbling.” This nibbling phenomenon can be best understood by reference to
Integrally formed with body 12, is an annular, radially inwardly projecting wiping lip 14, an annularly extending, axially facing bead 16, an annular pedestal portion 18. Header ring 10 includes a forwardly facing, annularly extending planar surface 20, an annularly extending, radially outwardly facing cylindrical surface 22, an annularly extending, radially inwardly facing cylindrical surface 24 and a radially inwardly facing convex sealing surface 26, surfaces 24 and 26 being adjoined at an annularly extending juncture 28.
Referring now to
In one aspect, the present invention provides a header ring for use in a packing or seal assembly between a reciprocating, cylindrical member and a cylindrical wall of a housing in which the cylindrical member reciprocates.
In one aspect, the header ring of the present invention has an annularly extending body portion, at least a portion of which comprises an elastomeric material, an annular pedestal portion formed on said body and having an annular, radially inwardly facing pedestal surface, a radially inwardly facing, annularly extending sealing lip formed on said body and having a radially inwardly facing sealing surface, at least a portion of the pedestal portion forming the pedestal surface and an at least a portion of the sealing lip forming at least a portion of the sealing surface being comprised of a layer fabric reinforced elastomeric material.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sealing assembly for sealing between a cylindrical movable member and a housing having a cylindrical bore in which the cylindrical member reciprocates, the sealing assembly including a header ring as described above.
The foregoing objects, features and advantages of the present invention, as well as others, will be more fully understood and better appreciated by reference to the following drawings, specification and claims.
Referring first to
Turning to
Referring now to
While packing assembly 101 has been shown as containing two seal rings of the chevron or V-shaped type, it will be appreciated that depending upon the use to which the plunger pump is subjected, fewer or more sealing rings can be employed. It will also be seen that the annular bead 119 of header ring 110 is nested in the annularly extending, axially facing groove in seal ring 112 so as to anchor seal ring 112 to the header ring 110. It will be appreciated that the seal rings 112 and 114 can be constructed of various materials and have various shapes, the only provision being that they have sufficient resiliency to effect sealing between the housing 102 and plunger 106. Generally speaking, components such as throat bushing 108, top adaptor 116, and bushing 110 are made of a metallic material, e.g., brass.
The packing assembly 101 can be energized by header ring 110 and can be made to be adjustable by techniques well known in the art. If, however the packing assembly 101 is preloaded, care must be taken to ensure that the correct amount of preload is employed to prevent movement of the sealing assembly in the housing or stuffing box to prevent excessive wear on the sealing assembly. In this regard, if there is too little preload the packing will move in the housing wearing both the ID and OD of the seal rings as well as the header ring causing premature wear and in extreme cases causing wear in the stuffing box resulting in expensive repair or refurbishment. On the other hand, if the packing assembly is adjusted with too little preload, high friction forces cause accelerated wear of the header ring and the seal rings with premature failure.
The homogeneous elastomeric core of the header ring of the present invention can be made from a number of different natural or synthetic rubbers as, for example, nitrile or butadiene rubber, with a desired degree of hardness again depending upon the use to which the plunger pump is exposed. Likewise, the elastomeric portions of the seal rings 112 and 114 can be of various rubbers with desirable hardness. As indicated, the seal rings, e.g., seal rings 112 and 114, can be reinforced with fabric, can be homogeneous elastomeric materials, can have anti-extrusion portions, etc.
Sections 61 and 62 forming an anti-nibbling section, as seen in
The foregoing description and examples illustrate selected embodiments of the present invention. In light thereof, variations and modifications will be suggested to one skilled in the art, all of which are in the spirit and purview of this invention.
Claims
1. A header ring for use in a stuffing box comprising:
- an annular body portion comprising an elastomeric material;
- an annular, radially inwardly projecting sealing lip portion integrally formed with said body portion; and
- an annular, axially extending pedestal portion integrally formed with said body portion;
- said pedestal portion defining an annularly extending, radially inwardly facing pedestal surface, said sealing lip portion defining an annularly extending, radially inwardly facing sealing surface, said sealing surface and said pedestal surface forming a juncture, at least a portion of said pedestal portion adjacent said juncture and forming a portion of said pedestal surface and at least a portion of said sealing lip portion adjacent said juncture and forming a portion of said sealing surface being comprised of a layer of reinforced elastomeric material bonded to said body portion.
2. The header ring of claim 1, comprising an annular, axially extending bead distal said pedestal portion.
3. The header ring of claim 1, wherein said sealing lip portion is generally convex when in a relaxed position.
4. The header ring of claim 1, wherein said body portion comprises a core of elastomeric material and an outer layer of said reinforced elastomeric material bonded to said body portion.
5. The header ring of claim 4, further comprising an annular, axially extending bead distal said pedestal portion and said bead is comprised entirely of said reinforced elastomeric material.
6. The header ring of claim 1, wherein said pedestal portion comprises an axially facing, annularly extending, generally planar surface.
7. The header ring of claim 1, wherein said body portion has an axially extending, radially outwardly facing cylindrical surface.
8. The header ring of claim 1, wherein said layer comprises a fabric reinforced.
9. A stuffing box assembly comprising:
- a housing having a generally cylindrical bore extending therethrough and forming a generally radially inwardly facing housing cylindrical surface;
- a shaft movably positioned in said bore, an annulus being formed between said housing cylindrical surface and said shaft;
- a sealing assembly disposed in said annulus, said sealing assembly comprising: at least one annular sealing ring positioned in said annulus; a header ring positioned in said annulus and in engagement with said at least one sealing ring, said header ring comprising: an annular body portion comprising an elastomeric material; an annular, radially inwardly projecting sealing lip portion integrally formed with said body portion; an annular, axially extending pedestal portion integrally formed with said body portion;
- said pedestal portion defining an annularly extending, radially inwardly facing pedestal surface, said sealing lip defining an annularly extending radially inwardly facing sealing surface, said sealing surface and said pedestal surface forming a juncture, at least a portion of said pedestal portion adjacent said juncture and forming said pedestal surface and at least a portion of said sealing lip portion adjacent said juncture and forming a portion of said sealing surface being comprised of a layer reinforced elastomeric material bonded to said body portion; and
- a compression assembly forcing said sealing surface into sealing engagement with said shaft and said housing cylindrical surface into sealing engagement with said header ring.
10. The stuffing box of claim 9, comprising an annularly extending, axially facing bead distal said pedestal portion.
11. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein said sealing lip portion is generally convex when in a relaxed position.
12. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein said body portion comprises a core of elastomeric material and an outer layer of said reinforced elastomeric material bonded to said body portion.
13. The stuffing box of claim 12, further comprising an annular, axially extending bead distal said pedestal portion and said bead is comprised entirely of said reinforced elastomeric material.
14. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein said pedestal portion comprises an axially facing, annularly extending, generally planar surface.
15. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein said body portion has an annularly extending, radially outwardly facing body surface, said body surface being in sealing contact with said housing cylindrical surface.
16. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein there are a plurality of said sealing rings positioned on said annulus.
17. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein said sealing rings have a V-shape in cross-section.
18. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein said compression assembly includes an adjustable gland.
19. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein said sealing assembly further includes an adaptor ring.
20. The stuffing box of claim 18, wherein said header ring is positioned in said annulus distal said adjustable gland.
21. The stuffing box of claim 9, wherein said sealing assembly comprises said header ring, at least one seal ring, at least one bushing and an adjustable gland.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 31, 2008
Publication Date: Jul 2, 2009
Inventors: John A. Miller (Weimar, CO), Robert H. Ash, JR. (Magnolia, TX)
Application Number: 12/347,207
International Classification: F16J 15/20 (20060101); F16J 15/24 (20060101);