At Marion Process Solutions, we’re always looking for new ways to make your job easier. With over 80 years of applications experience we understand the challenges you face in your day-to-day manufacturing operations. That’s why we put our best engineers to work designing solutions to some of your most pressing problems, one of which is shaft sealing.
You told us you wanted better cleanability, ease of installation, dual applications use and longer lifecycles, so we designed a patented new main shaft seal that does all that and more. Our new shaft seal solutions are made for dry powder or slurry applications, meet 3-A, FDA & USDA guidelines-- and are less expensive than mechanical designs.
For powder materials, the design calls for multiple double lip seals with air purge. Liquids, slurries and 3-A Sanitary Authorized applications utilize a single lip (non-split) seal. A simple plastic seal housing retains the seals and is secured to a seal mounting plate. This plate is suitable for field installations on our existing Split-E seal housings.
Our Lips Stay Sealed
We beta tested our new air-purged, single and double lip seals in-house and on existing Marion equipment with multiple customers. At one plant that blends flour, sugar and spice, the new lip seals are still performing well after 2 years of operation and haven’t been touched. That’s $0 maintenance cost. Their previous stuffing box rope packing seal would last about a month before failure, making their very short wear life costly in both lost productivity and maintenance expense.
At another location, our new lip seal was used to replace an existing mechanical seal. The mechanical seal had lasted three years before they performed their first rebuild, but the cost was $20,000. The customer’s target for our test was a minimum six-month seal life coupled with a low rebuild cost. Marion Process Solutions installed a retrofit for a fraction of the cost of the mechanical seal. Our new solution far exceeded their expectations. In fact, our seals paid for themselves within two months based on just the former seal installation cost
Less is More
Simplicity is best applied when talking about good design. Complex seal designs are often time-consuming and costly to maintain. Our “less is more” approach can be seen in our new retrofit seal design features as follows:
- Innovative designs delivering efficient results at competitive prices
- Non-intrusive material (unlike packing that can be porous and hold media)
- Shaft friendly materials
- Easy to service = less down time
- Won’t degrade like packing
- Clean in place (CIP) designs
- Can be washed and reused
- FDA compliant materials
- Meets 3-A Sanitary Authorization requirements
- Proven longer run times compared to other seals
Seal Your Investment
Ribbon and paddle-style agitated mixers with traditional style packing glands require adjustment and maintenance on a regular basis. As mixers age, the original shaft tolerances may change, making it more difficult to adjust the packing. If adjusted too frequently, packing rope can wear prematurely, and if it is adjusted too tightly, the rope can be extruded into the mixing chamber and contaminate the batch/product. Over time, this shaft scoring will become deep enough that the rope will no longer seal, and product will leak through the seals. That’s why we created our seals from the highest standard materials to help avoid this issue and protect your investment for the long haul.
3-A Sanitary Authorized
Our seal materials carry a verification of conformance to the latest version of 3-A Sanitary Standard 35-04, Blending Equipment; authorization number: 1668. We also comply with 3-A Sanitary Standard 20-24, Multiple Use Plastic Materials. Our seals, manufactured from proprietary plastics, are capable of withstanding high temperatures and the demanding cleaning practices used in sanitary applications. Our solution provides excellent sealing capabilities, upholding our commitment to the highest standards in the design, materials and fabrication of our equipment.
Air Purged, Double Lip Seal
We’ve also created a new double lip seal with SealGuard provision. The seal mounting plate is suitable for our Split-E housing field installations and is ideal for equipment requiring 3-A Sanitary inspection for quick and thorough removal cleaning and reassembly. The key to our SealGuard air-purge technology and non-contact design is that it avoids direct ingress of the particulate material and assures the necessary level of sanitary seal performance. An extra layer of air functions as a barrier preventing product intrusion into the seal journal area.
When it comes to making your job easier, there’s nothing we won’t do to help. We’ll continue to keep pace with changing technologies in your facility to identify and solve those issues that keep you from doing what you do best. Contact one of our experts for more information on how we can customize a solution for you. Subscribe to our blog to continue to get updates from us.
