What practices should be avoided because they can cause seal problems?

Many seal problems are caused by running the agitator at vessel conditions that cause high agitator inaccuracy or “runout”. The following agitation “don’ts” should be avoided to ensure maximum seal life.

• Do not start the agitator when it is buried in solids.
• Do not run the agitator at full speed while the vessel is empty.
• Do not run the agitator at full speed with the liquid level the agitator blade level.
• Do not run the agitator at full speed during boil-off, especially if the product increases in viscosity.
• Do not run the agitator at full speed during slow draining of the vessel, especially if the liquid level will be at the blade level for any appreciable time.
• Do not run the agitator outside the operating parameters of the equipment.
• Do not run the agitator at higher speeds than are recommended at various liquid levels.
• Do not run the agitator with improperly maintained drives.

-For Agitator Do’s see Agitator Do’s and Don’ts tip sheet