Sealing ring assembly for sealing a rotating shaft on extraction equipment

A sealing ring system comprising:

• a first plurality of sealing rings positioned over the rotatable shaft and in the sealing ring receiving cavity, each of the first plurality of sealing rings having (a) an inner perimeter contacting the outer surface of the rotatable shaft and (b) an outer perimeter offset from the inner surface of the sealing ring receiving cavity;
• and
• a second plurality of sealing rings adjacent to the first plurality of sealing rings and being positioned over the rotatable shaft and in the sealing ring receiving cavity, each of the second plurality of sealing rings having (a) an outer perimeter contacting the inner surface of the sealing ring receiving cavity and (b) an inner perimeter offset from the outer surface of the rotatable shaft,
• wherein the first plurality of sealing rings comprises a first ring having a first slit, a second sealing ring having a second slit, and the first slit is rotationally offset from the second slit, and
• the second plurality of sealing rings comprises a third ring having a third slit, a fourth sealing ring having a fourth slit, and the third slit is rotationally offset from the fourth slit.

A method of sealing a rotating shaft, the method comprising:

• splitting a first sealing ring along a first slit and inserting the first sealing ring over a rotatable shaft and in a sealing ring receiving cavity of a shaft housing such that an inner perimeter of the first sealing ring contacts an outer surface of the rotatable shaft and an outer perimeter of the first sealing ring is offset from an inner surface of the sealing ring receiving cavity;
• splitting a second sealing ring along a second slit and inserting the second sealing ring over the rotatable shaft and in the sealing ring receiving cavity of the shaft housing such that an inner perimeter of the second sealing ring contacts the outer surface of the rotatable shaft and an outer perimeter of the second sealing ring is offset from the inner surface of the sealing ring receiving cavity;
• positioning the first slit of the first sealing ring rotationally offset from the second slit of the second sealing ring;
• splitting a third sealing ring along a third slit and positioning the third sealing ring adjacent to the second sealing ring and over the rotatable shaft and in the sealing ring receiving cavity such that an outer perimeter of the third sealing ring contacts the inner surface of the sealing ring receiving cavity and an inner perimeter of the third sealing ring is offset from the outer surface of the rotatable shaft;
• splitting a fourth sealing ring along a fourth slit and positioning the fourth sealing ring adjacent to the third sealing ring and over the rotatable shaft and in the sealing ring receiving cavity such that an outer perimeter of the fourth sealing ring contacts the inner surface of the sealing ring receiving cavity and an inner perimeter of the fourth sealing ring is offset from the outer surface of the rotatable shaft;
• and
• positioning the third slit of the third sealing ring rotationally offset from the fourth slit of the fourth sealing ring.