The Water Mizer™, a shaft sealing system invented by Inpro/Seal Company, has been awarded the prestigious Product of the Year award from Plant Engineering magazine.
Rock, Island, IL (PRWEB) June 18, 2009 -- The Water Mizer™, a shaft sealing system invented by Inpro/Seal Company, has been awarded the prestigious Product of the Year award from Plant Engineering magazine. Invented specifically for use in powder and bulk process applications, the system provides a positive seal that conventional methods simply cannot attain and eliminates the need for continual maintenance.
The Product Of The Year Award
Plant Engineering is a trade magazine serves 90,000+ readers and hosts a highly visited website. Founded in 1947, the monthly magazine is read regularly by plant personnel that recommend, specify or buy plant maintenance equipment and systems. For over 20 years they have conducted a Product Of The Year competition that has become the most coveted prize in manufacturing product innovation.
There are 17 categories with Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners in each. In 2008, their The Air Mizer™ shaft sealing system was the first place winner, in the maintenance products category while their Free Bearing Isolator program was a finalist in the same category.
For 2009, Inpro/Seal's Water Mizer shaft sealing system was the Silver or second place winner in the maintenance products category. The award was presented during the annual Plant Engineering Manufacturing Summit, held March 30 in Charleston, South Carolina. Accepting the award in behalf of Inpro/Seal was Wyman Woods, Southern Regional Manager.
Prestigious, Coveted And Stringent
The prestigious honor is bestowed only on those manufacturers that have created a new product or new idea that can help a plant to operate better, faster and more efficiently. To be eligible for Product Of The Year, an extensive review process is involved. This process includes: initial nomination by a panel of industry experts; verification that the product was new to the market between Oct. 1, 2007 - Sept. 30, 2008 and reader voting via special ballot among their 90,000+ readers.
The First Bearing Isolator
To understand the shaft sealing system, an explanation of the bearing isolator is needed. In his quest to find a positive, permanent means to protect bearings while enhancing and extending the service life of rotating equipment, David C. Orlowski developed the worlds first bearing isolator and received patent protection in 1977, the same year he founded Inpro/Seal Company. Today his company is the world's largest producer of industrial bearing isolators
A non-contacting labyrinth seal, for the first time, the bearing isolator gave the end users in process plants the choice of permanent bearing protection and eliminated the need for continual maintenance. Because it's unitized rotor and stator that do not contact each other, it consumes zero energy and it never wears out.
Conventional Shaft Seals Methods Did Not Last
Having proven itself to process plants on rotating equipment over the years, Inpro/Seal had a large number of requests for a long lasting shaft seal for use where powder, dry particulates, powders and bulk solids are handled, processed, packed and stored. At the time, end users had to contend with sealing methods such as packing and lip/contact seals mechanical seals that did not last.
Packing would soften to the point where powder or slurries can leak to the outside, causing environmental problems. Some could be renewed by tightening, which this was but a "short-term" fix that required constant maintenance. They were also subject to leakage runout at the stuffing box. Lip and face seals work on a contact basis and are subject to excess wear on the sealing surfaces as they make contact. Mechanical seals are subject to wear on the seal faces as they make contact.
The First Inpro/Seal Shaft Seals
In 1999, following extensive R & D, field testing and trials, they unveiled their original shaft seal, the Air Mizer™-PS a modification of their bearing isolator, a compound labyrinth, adapted to incorporate an air purge containment system. As with all Inpro/Seal Bearing Isolators, the original Air Mizer™-PS is a non-contact seal that avoids direct egress of the particulate material and assures the highest levels of performance. Its major innovation is the inclusion of a unique design feature that uses a solid wall of air that functions as a barrier for contamination and works to retain product where it should be - in the equipment, not outside of it. It went on to receive USDA approval.
The Shaft Seal Line Expands
By 2004, an entire product line product line of shaft seals started to evolve, including the Articulating Air Mizer™ and Smooth Bore. All have the advantages of the original, including the ability to handle extreme shaft misalignment and deflection, with the added capability to handle unlimited axial movement without placing any stress or strain on the equipment. Without any rotating parts, the shaft "floats" in the seal with zero contact and zero wear.
Customer Request Leads To The Water Mizer New Product
By 2007, Inpro/Seal customers requested a new type of seal. Because there are applications where air cannot be used, they wanted a shaft seal that used a medium to attain the seal. To meet these requests, Inpro/Seal engineers developed the Water Mizer Shaft Seal. The Water Mizer has all of the features of their other shaft seals with one main difference - a water purge is used to attain the seal.
It's design includes a ½" waterline connection that attaches to a regulator to control the water pressure. A drain is located on the backside. The shaft "floats" on a water barrier directly on the shaft, which provides unlimited axial movement without placing any stress or strain on the product. Without any moving parts, the seal attains zero contact, zero wear and zero frictional drag.
A Product For The Times
According to David C. Orlowski, CEO, "Inpro/Seal Company accepts this award with a great deal of pride. I compare this type of recognition similar to the Motor Trend Car Of The Year Award. It is very prestigious and an important indicator of the value our products bring to the market. The Water Mizer, as with all our shaft seals, is a step above and a significant improvement over dry running mechanical seals that begin to wear at start-up and require rebuild kits due to their 100% failure rate. Once installed, this product can help plants control plant floor equipment".
Nothing Else Like It On The Market
As with other products in the shaft sealing line, end users obtain the latest in non-contacting technology. All products work with shaft diameters of 1 " - 36" and accept severe radial and angular shaft run out up to 1/2 ". Once installed, problems associated with shaft deflection, run-out axial displacement and misalignment that cause other sealing methods to fail, become a thing of the past.
End users will be able to boost equipment reliability, reduce costs, extend sealing efficiencies and increase bottom line results, without equipment modifications. Additional benefits include: a reduction in lost product, the virtual elimination of unscheduled downtime and the ability to meet regulatory requirements.
Typical Applications, Easy To Install
Typical applications include: screw conveyors, mixers, blenders, rotary valves, feeders, gates, clinker grinders, bucket elevators, diverters, scales, bagging machines, dust collectors, discharges, classifiers, screens, extruders, separators, shredders, sifters, gate valves, metal detectors, pulverizers, crushers, coolers, aerators, mixers, agitators, transfer pumps, fillers and similar wet and dry powder and slurry processing equipment.
Inpro/Seal Shaft Seals are custom-engineered to suit individual applications and are easy to install. Split designs allow for installation directly on the shaft without the removal of couplings and end plates.
About Inpro/Seal
Inpro/Seal Company is the originator and the world's number one manufacturer of bearing isolators, used to protect motor and pump bearings, machine tool spindles, turbines, fans, gear boxes, paper machine rolls and many other types of rotating equipment. Additional applications include the sealing, handling, processing, packing and storage of dry particulates, powders and bulk solids.
Of the 4,000,000+ bearing isolators delivered, almost all of them continue to be in operation in process plants worldwide, where end users continue to report significantly reduced operating costs with increased productivity and reliability. Protected bearings have run 150,000 hours (17 years) or more, eliminating the need for costly maintenance and repair.
Signoff
For more information the Water Mizer™, Air Mizer™, Smooth Bore or other shaft seals, free literature that details why lips seals fail, or the name of the nearest trained distributor contact: Jason Putnam at: Inpro/Seal Company, P.O. Box 3940, Rock Island, Illinois 61204. Phone numbers are: (800) 447-0524 or (309) 787-4971. Fax number is: (309) 787-6114. Website: www.inpro-seal.com or www.bearingisolators.com
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