Seal assembly in rotary regenerative heat exchanger

In a rotary regenerative heat exchanger including a stationary housing member and a heat-transferring member which is cylindrical and rotatable on the longitudinal axis thereof for heat exchange between a first fluid stream of a relatively high pressure and a second fluid stream of a relatively low pressure, the housing member having a surface opposite to and spaced from a portion of an end face of the heat-transferring member, and a seal assembly for preventing leakage of the first fluid into the second fluid along said end face of the heat-transferring member, said seal assembly comprising:

• a seal member placed on said end face of the heat-transferring member and loosely joined with said surface of the housing member such that said seal member is movable vertically to said end face;
• a support plate fixedly placed on said surface;
• and
• a shield plate of a resilient material fixed at one end to said support plate to extend from said support plate obliquely towards said end face of the heat-transferring member such that an acute angle is formed between said surface and one side of said shield plate to be exposed to the first fluid, the extended end of said shield plate being in sliding contact with said seal member at a surface opposite to said surface of the housing member.