Vulcan Seals Inc

Vulcan Seals designs, manufactures and supplies mechanical seals, encapsulated O-rings, gland packing and expanded PTFE gasketing for pumps and rotating equipment. The company was founded in 1986 by Gerry Quinn and has worked in sealing technology for more than three decades. Its headquarters in Sheffield, UK houses sales, commercial and support offices, automated logistics systems, quality and inspection facilities, product warehouses and the global distribution centre.

Vulcan Seals Inc. opened in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2010 to replicate the UK facility and serve North American demand. American production capability was added around the turn of the millennium through the acquisition of O-Rings Inc. of Chicago and Universeal of Pennsylvania. Manufacturing and distribution have been certified to ISO 9001 since 2007, currently ISO 9001:2015, and the company also reports Net Zero certification.

Product range

• Mechanical seals in conical spring, parallel spring diaphragm, balanced diaphragm, O-ring mounted, elastomeric bellows, multiple spring and wave spring configurations
• Chem-Ring FEP/PFA encapsulated O-rings and seals, and Kamlock FEP encapsulated gaskets
• Gland packing in PTFE, PTFE graphite, carbon graphite, expanded graphite, PAN fibre, glass fibre, Kevlar aramid and natural fibre, plus preformed rings and packing extractors
• Tefcan expanded PTFE gasketing, including Teftape gasket tape, Tefsheet sheet gasketing and Tefcan universal joint sealant
• Silicon carbide components, vulcanised O-rings and Cryo-Ring seals

Standard mechanical seals are built to fit common metric and DIN 24960 (EN12756) housings without modification to existing housings or gland plates. Water pump seals are supplied for bi-directional operation with carbon and ceramic faces. The Vulcassette is offered as a custom sealing configuration, alongside bespoke encapsulation and shaping options, OEM pump seal kits, and separate stationary types and clamp rings.

OEM replacement seals

Much of the catalogue consists of direct replacements for original equipment manufacturer seals. The company states these share the visual appearance and fitting procedure of the original parts and are interchangeable with equivalent seals from other manufacturers. Named brands include:

• Refrigeration and HVAC: BITZER, BOCK, COPELAND, GRASSO, CARRIER, HOWDEN, STAL and SABROE
• Wastewater pumps: Flygt (replaced by the push-fit Type 06X), Sulzer ABS, Gorman-Rupp, Ebara, Godwin, Honda and Grundfos
• Pharmaceutical processing: the Fristam range, plus in-house Types 1692 and 1699

Chemical process applications are covered by rubber diaphragm, rubber bellows, O-ring mounted and PTFE multiple spring wedge seals, in type numbers including 1677M, 1678, 1609, 1645 and 1659 with balanced and stationary variants.

Industries served

• Chemical process and general industry
• Pharmaceutical and semiconductor
• Food and beverage, and dairy
• Water and wastewater process
• Refrigeration and marine
• Mining and environmental
• Leisure, including swimming pools and spa pools

Water pump seals also cover shower pumps, central heating, irrigation and light fluid duty systems.

Materials, compliance and support

Encapsulated O-rings pair Viton or silicone rubber cores with FEP or PFA outer layers for chemical resistance, and ultra-high purity PFA is available on request for semiconductor applications. The company states its FEP encapsulated O-ring and mechanical seal ranges comply with FDA and EC regulations covering materials in contact with pharmaceutical products, and it references USP Class VI testing.

A seal identification suite and cross reference tool allow a seal to be identified from an equipment model number or part code, and competitor part numbers to be converted. Refurbishment and repair services and a distributor network are also offered.