Leakage analysis of helical grooved pump seal using CFD

The helical grooved seal, which is a non-contact sealing device using the viscosity of the fluid, prevents leakage by reducing fluid pressure according to the shapes of the rotor and stator. It has been widely adopted to turbomachinery because no wear deliveries high efficiency, unlike to the existing contact sealing device. In this study, parametric study was performed by CFD analysis, considering helical grooved seal shape: ratio of groove width and land width ( W ratio ), helical angle (β) and groove depth (d). Based on the leakage characteristics analyzed through CFD results, improved seal shape of the helical grooved seal to reduce leakage was suggested.