Walkersele® rotary lip seals for propulsion applications
Walkersele® — worldwide reputation
Walkersele® is our well-proven family of radial lip seals for rotating shafts, and is widely used in all types of marine system:
– Propeller shafts and stern tubes.
– Azimuth and tunnel thrusters.
– Rudders and steering gear.
– Stabilisers.
– Gearboxes and associated plant.
In marine applications, these seals are essential to prevent both water ingress and the pollution of the marine environment. Design engineers and vessel operators rely on our pedigree in high performance sealing technology with full technical back up to provide the best value solutions to specific sealing problems.
Better efficiency — lower running costs
In most applications, the main role of a Walkersele is to retain lubricant within a bearing assembly. It will effectively:
– Extend bearing life and improve reliability.
– Cut maintenance costs and downtime.
– Reduce lubricant loss and costs.
– Cut power consumption with low friction running.
– Reduce corrosion caused by dissimilar metal interfaces.
– Minimise the risk of contravening IMO pollution regulations.
In marine duties, a Walkersele is also used to prevent the external environment, be it fresh or seawater, from entering equipment and causing damage.
For water-facing seals, we recommend that only Walkerseles with a back of our nitrile-proofed aramid/glass fabric material should be used.
1. Walkersele® OSJ-2
Our patented OSJ® technique for On-Site Joining minimises downtime by allowing seals to be installed without stripping down the housing. This can save days of dry docking for vessels, and does not compromise sealing efficiency or operational life. Installation services and customer training are available.
How supplied
Walkersele radial lip seals — in 10,000 type/size combinations are available on Express Service for vessels worldwide.
Walkersele cartridge sealing systems — are custom designed and manufactured to order.
Walkersele OSJ-2 — kits are supplied for shaft sizes from 60mm to 2000mm in D6, D6/DL, D7 and D8 designs, with Express
Service available for vessels worldwide.
2. Cartridge seals
All the sealing arrangements featured in this Walkersele® section can be supplied as custom designed/manufactured cartridge seals. Cartridge arrangements can be supplied fully split to allow installation on board without the need for shaft removal.
Working in close liaison with your engineering staff we undertake the complete design and manufacturing process which includes:
– Custom design of a tailored solution based on a metal cartridge that houses one or more sealing elements, and includes lubrication facilities where required.
– Sealing elements carefully selected from our full family of products — including Walkersele® radial lip seals, other rotary seals, gland packings or ‘O’ rings — to meet precise operational parameters. We will custom design sealing elements specifically for your application, where this is necessary.
– Cartridges are designed to match the pressure rating of the sealing application and provide full housing support for the sealing element/s under all operational conditions.
– Manufacture, assembly, test and supply of your cartridge seal.
– Maintenance and refurbishment of your custom designed cartridge seal.
Specialised cartridges can be designed to overcome particular application issues. One such example is a ‘floating’ cartridge containing axial and radial bearing elements to allow the seal assembly to follow large eccentric movements of a worn or misaligned shaft.
How supplied
Cartridge seals are custom designed and manufactured to suit each specific application.
3. Walkersele® shaft sleeves
Our sleeves will protect your shaft from wear and present the optimum running surface for Walkersele radial lip seals. We can provide them in either endless or split form.
The sleeves are precision manufactured in corrosion-resistant steel or non-ferrous alloys, to suit the operating conditions, and can be supplied with hard surface layers when required.
Our split-type sleeves feature a taper-wedge location and locking system that ensures perfect alignment of the split halves.
How supplied
Shaft sleeves are custom designed and manufactured to suit each specific application.