Experience of operating self-centering stuffing box
sealing devices

The first sealing devices with moveable stuffing box have been installed since 1994 for centrifugal and plunger pumps at Kiev heating network, heat and power plants HPP-5, HPP-6, Kiev water supply and sewage system Kyivvodokanal, Dneprodzerzhinsk HPP, Cherkasy HPP, Lviv HPP-1, Kharkiv HPP-5 and Kharkiv heating networks.

Until 2002 Kiev heating network, HPP-5 and HPP-6 upgraded gland seals for all of their multiple pumps to a new type of seal developed and produced by "Energotehnika" PE, Kiev.

Until 2004 conventional gland packing seals were replaced with self-centering stuffing box sealing devices for virtually all major pumps at Darnitska HPP, Kremenchug HPP and Tripolska TPP.

Since 2002 until now a lot of self-centering stuffing boxes have been installed for the pumps of Luhansk TPP, Zaporizhia TPP, Pridneprovska TPP, Dobrotvor TPP, Burshtynska TPP, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, etc.

In 2011 thermal power plants of Crimea began to switch to these sealing systems.

In the period between 2000 and 2002 the sealing devices designed and produced by enterprise "Energotehnika" for the first time had been installed for various pumping equipment of Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. South-Ukrainian nuclear power plant began installing self-centering seals in 2002, Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant - in 2004, Rivne nuclear power plant - in 2005.

Since that time, all nuclear power plants in Ukraine have installed and operated a large number of self-centering stuffing box seals for their pumping equipment and continue to upgrade gland seals.

In the period from 2016 until now, all hydroelectric power stations in Ukraine began to equip all their pumps with these seals - after many years of test operation on individual pumps.

Since 2018 Ukrainian NPPs have begun to install self-centering sealing devices on pumps belonging to the SSC category (systems important to safety).

Reviews about the sealing devices with
self-centering stuffing box:
Frequently asked questions about
self-centering sealing devices

1) Do I need any additional work about the pump?
Answer: The seal is usually supplied as assembled unit and installed in an existing pump chamber without any modification to the pump. Any parts of the previous gland seal (stuffing box, lantern ring, gland, bolts, etc.) are not used.

2) Who will install the seal on the pump?
Answer: The installation is executed by maintenance personnel of customer according to the manual to the sealing device.

3) Where can I get rubber O-rings used in the seal?
Answer: All the spare parts of sealing devices are supplied by enterprise "Energotehnika" in the form of repair kits, which include sealing rubber O-rings, packing rings, protective sleeves of shaft, and tools for disassembly and assembly of the sealing device. During the warranty period the sealing device does not require its disassembly to replace any parts, including inner rubber O-rings.

4) What kind of packing is used in the seal? How often should I change the packing?
Answer: In the most cases it is used common braid graphite packing, which serves in the sealing device without having to replace it much longer than usually (at least one year), because it works under minimal contact pressure of the shaft. In this case the wear of protective sleeves of the shaft is almost absent.

5) Can be designed and manufactured a self-centering seal for the pump, which is not in the list of products?
Answer: Sealing device with a self-centering stuffing box can be designed and manufactured by the enterprise "Energotehnika",Kiev, not just for other types of pumps, but for different mechanisms (mixers, dryers, blenders, agitators, etc.).

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