Centrifugal pumps are used for extreme condition service in the petroleum, chemicals, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, power generation, food and beverage, mining and minerals, transportation, semiconductor, water and waste, refrigeration, automotive, and appliance industries. They are used in virtually every industrial setting because they can transfer a great variety of fluids and slurries with high efficiency over a wide range of flows and pressures. Inevitably, they are critical elements of industrial processes wherever they are used, in that whenever centrifugal pumps shut down for maintenance or repair, the processes they serve must also shut down, impacting, productivity and therefore profits.

Regardless of industrial setting, Argonne’s UNCD mechanical seals are designed to meet demanding industrial requirements involving aqueous solutions, chemicals, corrosive liquids, high-pressure liquids, and hydrocarbons and solvents.

Mechanical seals come in hundreds of varieties and sizes for myriad applications, ranging from pumping steam to petroleum fluids to abrasive slurries. UNCD mechanical seals are competitively priced with respect to the silicon carbide seals they replace, and industry will save money in pump life cycle by switching to UNCD mechanical seals. Because UNCD can be applied relatively inexpensively, UNCD mechanical seals can offer industry immediate payback in terms of energy savings by greatly reducing friction at the sealing interface. The seals also offer greatly increased mean time to replacement because the faces last longer; increased tolerance to poorly lubricated conditions, which significantly reduces maintenance costs; and reduced face temperatures, which permits the pumping of thermally sensitive media.

Because of the numerous highly promising applications for UNCD thin films, Argonne transferred the technology to a start-up company, Advanced Diamond Technologies, Inc. (ADT), that would focus on the technology and pursue multiple markets. ADT has already vigorously pursued several application areas, including mechanical seals, and is doing research on several others.

One of the first steps taken in this regard was to establish a joint development agreement with John Crane, Inc., the technology leader and the world’s largest manufacturer of mechanical seals and associated products. Under the agreement, John Crane performed scores of characterization tests. The results have demonstrated that UNCD dramatically improves the performance capabilities of mechanical seals. The focus is now on producing the seals in large batches so they could be manufactured affordably and utilized for improved performance in commercial applications.