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Shaft Seal Identifier

Run the Shaft Seal Identifier MicroSim Fullscreen

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About This MicroSim

Every shaft seal is identified by what touches the shaft. This MicroSim shows FanPedia's seven shaft seal types as bins, grouped in their three families:

Family Bin Identifying parts (reference infobox)
Contact seals Friction shaft seal Soft seal material (tacky cloth, Teflon, Viton, Nomex mineral wool, silicone sheet or Fiber Frax ceramic felt) held by a cover plate, typically aluminum. The standard type.
V-ring shaft seal Teflon plate design with Chekseal and PTFE joint sealant; also called axial or Teflon shaft seal.
Lip shaft seal Elastomer lip (Buna-N standard, Viton special) in a seal housing with a grease fitting.
Carbon ring seals Single carbon ring seal One split carbon ring in a seal housing behind a cover plate; vendor supplied; also called labyrinth shaft seal.
Double carbon ring seal Two split carbon rings with a lantern ring at a purge hole; vendor supplied.
Stuffing box seals Stuffing box seal Graphoil split inner rings and carbon yarn packing outer rings between an inside plate and an outside plate with a retaining ring.
Stuffing box seal with gas purge A stuffing box with a Teflon lantern ring at a purge hole, shipped with a 1/8-inch NPT pipe plug.

In explore mode (the start) each bin opens its reference infobox and a schematic cross-section of the seal: housing wall at the left, shaft along the bottom, seal parts outside the wall. Exploring is never scored.

The quiz deals twelve cards in shuffled order. Each describes a seal by its parts, its materials or its order-line name. You commit a card by pressing a bin, with two attempts per card:

  • Correct: "✓ Correct: . "
  • Wrong on the first attempt: "✗ Not this one. Look again at the parts named on the card." The wrong bin gets a dashed red outline.
  • Wrong on the second attempt: "✗ This is a . " and the card counts as missed.

After every answer the correct bin's infobox opens, and the committed card appears as a chip in the bin you chose (✓ solid, ✗ dashed). The running line reads "First-try correct: n of 12". After card 12 the summary gives the first-attempt score, the mastery line (10 of 12 on the first attempt; when it is reached: "You can identify FanPedia's seven shaft seal types from their parts.") and every card that was not correct on the first try, with its correct bin. Start over reshuffles the cards.

How to Use

  1. Press each bin (keys 1 to 7) and compare the cross-sections: which part touches the shaft, and is there a purge?
  2. Press Start the quiz (or Enter).
  3. Read the card and press the bin it belongs in. With a wrong first attempt, read the card again and press another bin.
  4. Read the verdict and the infobox, then press Next card (or Enter).
  5. After card 12, read the summary. Press any bin to review its infobox, and Summary to return. Start over deals a new shuffle.

Keyboard: keys 1 to 7 press a bin; Enter starts the quiz and goes to the next card; Tab reaches every button.

Data label: "Schematic cross-sections, not to scale · Source: FanPedia pp. 149-155", shown at the bottom left of the drawing.

Iframe Embed Code

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<iframe src="https://moroshek.github.io/FanTASTIC-textbook/sims/ch16-shaft-seal-identifier/main.html"
        height="762px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Learning Objective

The learner will classify a fan shaft seal into one of seven FanPedia seal types from a description of its parts, materials or order-line name, with at least 10 of 12 correct on the first attempt (Bloom: Understand, verb: classify).

Audience

Adult professional development: new application engineers, sales staff, representatives and facilities staff.

Duration

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Shaft seal and the three seal families (Chapter 16, "Shaft Seals")
  • Friction, V-ring and lip shaft seals (Chapter 16, "Lip and Friction Shaft Seals")
  • Single and double carbon ring seals, lantern ring, purge (Chapter 16, "Carbon Ring Seals")
  • Stuffing box seal, stuffing box with gas purge, Graphoil, carbon yarn packing (Chapter 16, "Stuffing Box Seals")

Activities

  1. Explore (4 min): Open all seven bins. For each, name the part that touches the shaft and say whether the seal can be purged.
  2. Quiz (6 min): Classify the twelve cards. Before pressing a bin, point to the word on the card that decides it.
  3. Review (3 min): Read the summary. For each card not correct on the first try, open its bin and find the identifying part in the cross-section.

Common Misconceptions Addressed

  • Any seal with a purge is a carbon ring seal. Cards 7 and 12 are purged stuffing boxes; the stuffing box with gas purge bin sits in its own family.
  • A lip shaft seal and a bearing lip seal are the same part. The lip seal cross-section shows it on the fan housing wall with its own greased housing.
  • "Labyrinth" always means a bearing seal. The single carbon ring infobox lists "labyrinth shaft seal" as another name.
  • Single and double carbon ring seals differ only in size. The double ring cross-section adds the lantern ring and the purge.

Assessment

  • First-attempt score shown in the summary as "First-attempt score: n of 12"; mastery is 10 of 12 on the first attempt. The running line reads "First-try correct: n of 12".
  • Follow-up question: a nominally leak-tight fan handles a gas that must not escape. Which two of the seven seal types would you offer, and what must the customer supply?

References

  1. FanPedia: The Fan & Blower Encyclopedia (PDF) - Twin City Fan & Blower; Shaft Seals pp. 149 (friction), 150 (V-ring), 151 (lip), 152 (single ring mechanical), 153 (double ring mechanical), 154 (stuffing box) and 155 (stuffing box with gas purge).
  2. FanPedia online - Twin City Fan & Blower's online version of the encyclopedia.
  3. Chapter 16: Bearings, Shafts and Shaft Seals - the "Shaft Seals" section and its subsections.
  4. Gland (engineering) (Wikipedia) - background on packing glands and stuffing boxes.