Patent attributes
A seal ring arrangement generally includes a pair of opposed seal rings which define a shaft seal to prevent leakage along the shaft of rotary equipment. A seal face treatment process has been developed using seal ring machining equipment which has a laser unit that forms micro-topography depth features in the seal face and then performs a material surface treatment process to selectively alter the conductivity of the seal face so as to virtually eliminate electro-corrosion in the seal rings. The seal rings preferably are provided in a conventional combination of a carbide seal ring material for one of the seal rings and a silicon carbide material for the other seal ring. The laser machining and the laser treatment processes are preferably applied to the silicon carbide material.
