THE IMPACT OF

SEALING SYSTEMS ON THE

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
OF PUMPS
AUGUST 2017
A.W. Chesterton Company

1
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

For companies in the process industries, improving the

efficiency of pumping systems is an important way to
reduce energy costs and water usage, and improve
Marco Hanzon
Marco Hanzon is Vice President
overall productivity. In this e-book, we’ll explore the
of Global Marketing for A.W. impact of pumping systems and review common
Chesterton Company. He has
been an active member and set-up scenarios and their energy impact.
past chairman of the Mechanical
Seal Committee of the
European Sealing Association. What You Will Learn:
Before getting involved in the
Marketing of Mechanical Seals,
 • Why frictional losses do not represent the
Marco worked as an application
engineer for mechanical seals. true energy consumption of sealing systems

• How various seal support systems impact

energy consumption

• Which applications will yield the largest

energy efficiency savings

DISCLAIMER: This document is for informational and educational purposes only. It is intended to be a general guide. It should not
be considered advice or a replacement for addressing equipment concerns with a qualified professional. Chesterton assumes no
responsibility for any action or inaction you take based on or made in reliance on the information contained in this document.

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ENERGY CONSUMPTION HAS THE LARGEST IMPACT ON
OVERALL LIFECYCLE COSTS
Energy consumption is typically the largest
contributor to the overall lifecycle
costs of pumping systems.
This energy use is a result of:
• The overall efficiency of the
pumping system
•R
 otational losses related to bearing
condition and motor efficiency
• The energy requirements of the
sealing system

Improving Energy Efficiency

To improve energy efficiency of pumping systems, pump manufacturers often offer adjacent
technologies such as variable speed drives, pump monitoring systems, and energy efficient electrical
motors, as well as introducing pumps with
improved hydraulic design. However, one
area that is often neglected is the energy
consumption of the sealing system itself. “Frictional losses do not represent the true
energy consumption of sealing systems.
Product losses, and cooling and heating
What about Sealing Systems? requirements are often larger contributors
Why are sealing systems often overlooked as to the overall energy consumption of
an opportunity for improving overall energy sealing systems.”
efficiency of a pump? One explanation is that
plant maintenance staffs have traditionally
focused on the frictional losses associated with
mechanical seals and compression. In reality,
frictional losses are small in comparison to the
overall power consumption of a pumping
system. With a 65kW (90 hp) pumping system,
for example, the frictional losses are often
no more than 300W – 600W (<1%) or
1000-2000 btu/hr. But frictional losses are
only the beginning.

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ENERGY GETS WASTED WITH MANY SEAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Mechanical seals and compression packing often require support systems for reliable operation.
These are systems to flush, cool, or heat the fluid sealed. These systems are the primary energy wasters!
Some examples:
• Flushing of single mechanical seals and compression packing involves injecting an external fluid
into the sealing area to provide cooling. This approach results
in dilution of the process, requires additional energy for re-heating,
and may create the need for downstream separation or evaporation.
• Cooling systems used with single seals affect the thermal
efficiency of the pumping system and require re-heating, and
disposal or treatment of the used cooling water.
• Cooling systems used with dual seals may require some thermal
energy, pumping energy for circulation of the barrier fluid, and
disposal or treatment of the used cooling water.
Below we’ll take a closer look at the energy consumption impact
of different pump support systems.

Energy Efficiency of a Condensate Pump System: Five Scenarios

Seal Size: 90mm (3.5"), Discharge Pressure: 6 barg (90 psig), Suction Pressure: 4 barg (60 psig),
Temperature: 130°C (270°F).

Sealing System A:
Pump sealed with a single mechanical seal that uses a clean water flush for cooling (Plan 32)

In this scenario, the flush water is introduced into the pump system via the seal chamber.
This cools the seal but also requires the system to heat up the cooled fluid that enters the
pump. In addition, the heat soak from the pump housing is lost energy because of injection
of the cooled flush.

8 l/m or 2 gpm @
20°C (70°F)

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Heat Soak: 2.31kW 5

Energy for Reheating

8 l/m or 2 gpm @ 20°C (70°F) Frictional Losses: 0.36kW
Back to 130°C (270°F): 61.6kW

© A.W. Chesterton Company

System Energy Consumption: 64.3kW

Annual Heat Loss at 0.05 $/kWh = $28,150

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 Sealing System B:
Pump sealed with compression packing that uses a clean water flush for cooling
In this scenario, the mechanical seal is replaced by compression packing. While the injection
of cooled flush requires the system to heat up the fluid that enters the pump, it takes up a
smaller volume as part of the flush exits as leakage to the atmosphere. Moreover, heat soak is
negligible as the flush that passes underneath the compression packing limits cooling of the
pump housing itself.

8 l/m or 2 gpm @ 20°C (70°F) Frictional Losses: 0.5kW

Energy for Reheating

6 l/min or 1.6 gpm from Leakage: 2 l/m (.5 gpm)
20°C (70°F) Back
to 130°C (270°F): 46.2kW

© A.W. Chesterton Company

System Energy Consumption: 46.7kW

Annual Heat Loss at 0.05 $/kWh= $20,454

Sealing System C:
Pump sealed with a single mechanical seal that uses a cooled recirculation (Plan 21)
Plan 21 uses a recirculation from the discharge through a cooler back to the seal chamber.
There is no injection of an external flush but the cooled recirculated medium will still need to
be reheated as it returns back into the suction of the pump. Heat soak is generally smaller as the
drop in temperature that the cooler provides is limited.

Heat Soak: 1.54kW 2 l/m (.5 gpm) at 20°C (70°F)

Return Line
Energy for Reheating Cooled to 60°C (140°F)
8 l/m or 2 gpm from
60°C (140°F)
Back to 130°C: 39.2kW Frictional Losses: 0.38kW

© A.W. Chesterton Company

System Energy Consumption: 41.2kW

Annual Heat Loss at 0.05 $/kWh = $18,010

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 Sealing System D:
Pump sealed with a single mechanical seal that uses a cooled recirculation (Plan 23)
Plan 23 is a seal support plan more common to power plants. As with Plan 21, it uses a cooler
but circulates the pumped fluid from the seal chamber through the cooler and then back into
the seal chamber. Since there is no flow from the seal chamber back into the pump suction,
there is no reheating required. Heat soak is still energy that is lost.

2 l/m (.5 gpm) at 20°C (70°F)

Return Line
Heat Soak: 1.54kW Cooled to 60°C (140°F)

Frictional Losses: 0.33kW

© A.W. Chesterton Company

System Energy Consumption: 1.87kW

Annual Heat Loss at 0.05 $/kWh = $819

Sealing System E:
Pump sealed with a single mechanical seal with optimized design for high temperature
operation without any additional support system
In this last scenario, we use a mechanical seal specifically designed for use in hot water. These
seals often use specific face materials or features that allow operation without any additional
support system. In this case, the only energy consumption is the frictional losses of the seal
faces themselves.

Frictional Losses: 0.33kW

© A.W. Chesterton Company

System Energy Consumption: 0.33kW

Annual Heat Loss at 0.05 $/kWh = $144

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Summary
As you can see, the selection of the sealing system has a significant impact on the overall energy
consumption and, therefore, on the efficiency of the pumping system. The sealing system energy
consumption in these different scenarios varied between close to 65kW to a little over 300W.
In some cases, the energy savings of sealing systems alone exceeds the combined energy savings
potential of more expensive energy-saving technologies such as variable speed drives, pump monitoring
systems, energy efficient electrical motors, and pumps with improved hydraulic designs!

Energy Consumption of Sealing Systems

70
Energy Consumption in in kW

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
A B C D E
Sealing System A to E
■ System Energy ■ Friction Losses

WHERE TO START?
The largest opportunities for improving the energy efficiency of your sealing systems are to be found on
applications where:
• The sealing temperature is high (such as hot water, condensate, and boiler feed systems)
• External flush injection is used (such as slurries)
To perform an energy efficiency assessment of sealing systems, the Fluid Sealing Association (FSA)
provides a life-cycle cost estimator that can be downloaded.
Learn more about mechanical seals with optimized design for high temperature operation.

(1) Pump Life Cycle Costs; A Guide to LCC Analysis for Pumping Systems, Executive Summary US Department of Energy – Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Hydraulic Institute and Europump, January 2001.

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© 2017 A.W. Chesterton Company.
® Rin egistered trademark owned by A.W. Chesterton Company
USA and other countries, unless otherwise noted.

A.W. Chesterton Company Telephone: 781-438-7000 Form No. EN24713

860 Salem Street Fax: 978-469-6528 Energy Efficiency eBook – English
Groveland, MA 01834 USA chesterton.com 09/17