longeron
Mechanical
- Nov 11, 2002
- 165
I was wondering what experience people had with R-134a and POE in refrigeration compressors, specifically with HNBR or neoprene elastomers, as well as with mechanical face seals.
Is there any real debate about the preferred elastomer for this service? I’m new to compressor seals and I’ve got a lot to learn. The material selection charts that I’ve seen for O-rings in refrigerant and oil mixtures have been pretty confusing.
What are the common failure modes that plague mechanical seals in this application? The mode of failure I’m noticing is that the oil viscosity is high at start-up, when the oil is cool, increasing the torque required to start rotating one of the faces. The faces fail because of the sudden increased force. If I understand correctly, the oil viscosity is played with so to optimize the oil and refrigeration separation or gas entrainment.
Is there any real debate about the preferred elastomer for this service? I’m new to compressor seals and I’ve got a lot to learn. The material selection charts that I’ve seen for O-rings in refrigerant and oil mixtures have been pretty confusing.
What are the common failure modes that plague mechanical seals in this application? The mode of failure I’m noticing is that the oil viscosity is high at start-up, when the oil is cool, increasing the torque required to start rotating one of the faces. The faces fail because of the sudden increased force. If I understand correctly, the oil viscosity is played with so to optimize the oil and refrigeration separation or gas entrainment.
