MECO Shaft Seals/Woodex Bearing Company

Processors who have to dry abrasive slurries are plagued by a gradual loss of vacuum, leading to longer and longer drying cycles. For most, the greater the vacuum, the shorter the batch time, and the more profitable the process. Users have reported MECO-DR seals holding as little as 2-3 torr of vacuum, resulting in dryer cycle times 20-50% shorter than using their previous seals.

In 2005, the European Union's ATEX Directive (EN 94/9/EC) went into effect, governing all industrial environments containing potentially explosive atmospheres. Examples of sites under the jurisdiction of ATEX are those where dust or vapors are present in contained or concentrated atmospheres, such as processors of hydrocarbons or dry powders.

While pump shaft sizes are standardized, mixer shafts are not. For this reason, MECO offers its custom shaft seals for slow-turning bulk processing equipment, including mixers, blenders, reactors, conveyors, dryers, bucket elevators, grinders, crushers and agitators. Recognizing that no standard seals will work properly in every application, MECO engineers specify the design and construction materials for each seal according to precise shaft diameter, speed, clearance, process chemistry, temperature, pressure, etc. Seal materials are chosen from a variety of specialty and hardened alloys, bearing-grade plastics and specialty elastomers. FDA materials are available. Engineers select the optimal, patented seal design to suit each application. Factors such as thermal growth of the shaft and process pressure variations are calculated in to the designs. A wide range of shaft diameters can be retrofitted. Seals use different gas barrier fluids, at very low flow rates (5 ±5 litres per hour).