Design considerations towards the construction of hybrid floating brush seal (HFBS)

The hybrid floating brush seal (HFBS) represents an advance in brush seal technology by combining brush seal and film riding face seal technologies to create a hybrid seal that allows both axial and radial excursions of the sealed shaft without damage to seal integrity. At the same time, it eliminates interface surface speeds between the rotor and the brush bristles. This accomplishment is possible because the brush seal, which forms the primary seal, rotates with the shaft, while floating against a hydrodynamic face seal surface, which makes up the secondary seal. The present paper presents continuation work (Int J of Rotating Machinery, 7, 2002) and will concentrate on the methodology of (i) designing and choosing brush characteristics, and (ii) the design of the face seal that allows the floating of the brush plates against it. The brush simplified analytical model predicts the effects of centrifugal force on the bristles and allows implementation of a methodology for choosing and optimizing bristle geometry. The face seal design concentrates on ensuring seal integrity and dynamic stability of the entire assembly.