en.Wedoany.com Reported - John Crane, a business under the UK-based Smiths Group, has announced an expansion of its operations in the Brazilian market, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the invention of the Dry Gas Seal. This technology, introduced by John Crane in 1976, eliminates physical contact by forming an ultra-thin gas film between sealing surfaces, significantly reducing wear on rotating equipment. It has now become the global standard for centrifugal compressors and is widely used on oil platforms in Brazilian waters.
In April 2024, John Crane inaugurated a 1,700-square-meter service center in Rio Claro, São Paulo state, Brazil, dedicated to the repair and testing of mechanical seals. The facility is powered by solar energy and equipped with a dynamic test bench capable of operating at speeds exceeding 30,000 revolutions per minute under pressures of up to 450 bar, simulating actual field conditions.
"This is more than just repair. We work with customers to identify any anomalies, analyze failure modes and root causes, and propose improvement solutions. Customers can come to our facility to observe the testing process," said Rogério Quirino, Regional Manager for John Crane in Brazil, in an interview with Indústria News. The center can test up to 200 seals per cycle, serving customers in Brazil and other Latin American countries.
With Brazil currently producing nearly 4 million barrels of oil per day and upstream investments expected to exceed $100 billion over the next five years, the demand for operational reliability is increasingly urgent. In this context, the importance of dry gas seals used in turbomachinery on offshore platforms is highlighted. Petrobras, Transpetro, and Brava are among John Crane's customers in Brazil.
Beyond the oil and gas sector, John Crane also serves the petrochemical and process industries, including companies at the Polo Industrial de Camaçari in Bahia. The company has also launched the digital platform Sense, which installs sensors directly on mechanical seals to transmit data in real-time to the cloud. Using artificial intelligence, it identifies abnormal patterns and provides warnings before failures occur, transforming reactive maintenance into predictive maintenance. This platform is part of the Performance Plus service package, designed for full lifecycle management.
With approximately 6,000 employees, over 200 branches, and operations in more than 50 countries, John Crane is a global leader in the mechanical seal market. The company has an office in São Paulo, branches in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, and serves customers in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela. Fifty years after inventing the dry gas seal, Brazil remains one of its strategic markets. Mechanical seals are critical components for preventing leakage between rotating shafts and stationary parts in equipment such as pumps, compressors, and agitators, and are widely used in industries including oil and gas, chemical processing, water treatment, and pharmaceuticals.
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