Core Capabilities and Services
- Structural, fluid, and thermal analysis
- Elastomer FEA
- Design and product development
- Mechanical and flow testing
- Tribology… friction, wear, and lubrication
- Valve technology
- Seal technology
- Failure analysis
- AOV/MOV Services
- MOV Actuator Test Stand (Torque & Thrust)
- MOV Actuator Test Stand (Torque Only)
Kalsi Blog (View All)
Higher temperature operation with the KLS RCD rotary seal
Rotating Control Devices (RCDs) experience shorter life in higher temperature wells because the existing RCD rotary seals are being pushed beyond their limit. For several years we have been evaluating different seal liner materials for the KLS high-pressure rotary lip seal that can successfully operate at these higher temperatures. We recently completed the most successful high temperature RCD rotary test of a KLS seal.
A KLS seal using our -38 liner material was run on our RCD rotary seal test fixture. The operating conditions were 500 psi differential pressure, 190 RPM on a 10.50” mandrel, and with the surrounding fluid between 221°F (105°C) and 250°F (121°C). Note that the standard liner material for the KLS rotary seal, designated as -34, is challenged when the surrounding fluid temperature is above 205°F (96°C).
As seen in Figure 1, the KLS seal with the -38 liner material
Rotary Seals
High Pressure Shaft Seals
Consulting Engineering Services
Kalsi Engineering, Inc., a high technology firm, was founded in 1978 to provide consulting engineering services in the areas of research and development, design, analysis, and testing of mechanical equipment and structures. Our facilities are located in Sugar Land, Texas, approximately 17 miles from downtown Houston and easily accessible from the airports.
Our Clients
Kalsi Engineering has a diversified client base that includes equipment manufacturers, oilfield service companies, petrochemical plants, nuclear power plants, aerospace engineering companies, architect/engineers, industry research organizations, and government agencies. In addition to serving individual clients, we have successfully completed many joint-industry group-sponsored projects.
Our Products
In addition to providing consulting engineering services, Kalsi Engineering offers rotary seal and software product lines that were originally developed to solve difficult problems associated with energy production. Our patented rotary seals are the result of our pioneering research in hydrodynamic lubrication, making us a leading oilfield rotary seal manufacturer.
Kalsi Seals
Kalsi Seals® are a family of patented, one-piece rotary seals that provide hydrodynamic lubrication to minimize seal and shaft wear, and to accommodate high differential pressure.
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Kalsi Software
Our suite of engineering software began with JarPro™ jarring analysis software, which is used to reduce the costs associated with a stuck drillstring by optimizing jarring tool placement. KVAP®, CVAP® and LiFE® are state-of-the art software applications that are widely used to evaluate critical valve and actuator issues in nuclear power plants.
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BDRP Kalsi Seals™
Traditional Kalsi Seals require the lubricant pressure to be balanced to or higher than the environment pressure. The revolutionary BDRP™ Rotary Shaft Seals were developed for applications where the pressure of the seal lubricant may be up to 1,500 psi (10.34 MPa) less than the pressure on the opposite side of the seal. The ability to handle pressure in either direction and significant speed makes the BDRP a good candidate as a hydraulic swivel or rotating control device (RCD) seal.
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KLS High Pressure Lip Seals
KLS® spring-loaded lip seals are used to retain a pressurized non-abrasive fluid. They were designed and successfully tested for service conditions where the pressure acting from the spring side of the seal is up to 1,500 psi greater than the pressure of the seal lubricant. The high level of performance is made possible by the interfacial lubrication that is provided by a patented hydrodynamic wave geometry on the low pressure end of this innovative rotary shaft seal.
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Axially Force Balanced, Laterally Floating Backup Rings
The patented floating backup ring arrangements are axially force balanced, and radially pressure balanced. These features allow the smallest practical extrusion gap to be used, while accommodating shaft runout and misalignment. By minimizing the extrusion gap, the rotary seals can seal higher pressures for longer periods of time. Floating backup rings are applicable to many types of equipment, including rotating control devices (RCD), oilfield washpipe assemblies, sideport swivels and hydraulic swivels.
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Kalsi Seals for Rotating Control Devices (RCDs)
A rotating control device (RCD) reduces formation damage in oilwell drilling by maintaining the pressure of the annular fluid column of drilling mud at a pressure below, or comparable to, that of the reservoir. Early versions of Kalsi-brand rotary seals began to be used in RCDs in 1991. Since then, several advances in technology enable our seals to operate in more adverse RCD sealing conditions, including higher pressure, higher speed, less cooling, lower viscosity lubricants, and less complicated lubricant supplies.
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KALSI SEALS HANDBOOK™
Our handbook provides detailed information about selecting Kalsi-brand rotary shaft seals, and implementing them in pressure retaining and fluid separation applications, with a focus on oilfield applications. It consists of individually revisable chapters. This format streamlines the publication process, so we can provide the most up to date information on our rotary shaft seal technology. Written by our senior staff members, it presents the collective wisdom of many decades of experience. Topics covered by the handbook include product selection, seal material characteristics, seal performance characteristics, assembly considerations, and machine design practices.
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FLOW LOOP
Our modular water flow loop is rapidly reconfigurable to different piping configurations. It was developed to evaluate 2”-10” valves, and has a pressure capacity of 270 psig. The flow capacity is 2,700 gpm, which correlates to 30 feet per second with 6” piping. The meter run provides a flow measurement accuracy of ± 0.5 percent. A variety of temperature, pressure, load, and displacement transducers are available for use with our high speed data acquisition system.
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