Rod Rings

Unmatched Application Experience

As the inventor of floating mechanical packing over a century ago, Cook Compression is unmatched in rod ring application experience. Cook has supplied rod rings for tens of thousands of successful applications worldwide.

Continued development, backed by experienced applications support, results in custom seal ring, pressure breaker, vent ring, and purge/buffer ring solutions that consistently outperform traditional approaches.

A complete selection of materials, from bronze to high-performance non-metallics, dramatically improves packing ring durability in even the most demanding applications.

BTUU seal rings - low-emissions rod ring technology
Rod rings

The Importance of Rod Rings

Pressure packing rings serve a critical role in reciprocating compressors, providing a dynamic, mechanical seal around the piston rod and against the packing case cup to prevent leakage from the compressor cylinder.

Compressor reliability, efficiency, run times and operating cost-effectiveness can all be significantly improved by optimizing rod ring applications.

Seal Rings

Seal rings stop or restrict the flow of gas out of the cylinder and into the vent or distance piece. Standard seal rings typically use a radial cut and tangent cut ring, plus a back-up ring. Potential leak paths are blocked by ring overlap.

While they are designed to provide a complete seal, all standard rings allow small amounts of leakage. Therefore, seal rings are typically arranged in series to sequentially reduce gas pressure across the packing case.

For operations requiring near-zero leakage, Cook Compression offers advanced low-emissions rod packing. This patented technology incorporates gapless ring designs to eliminate leak paths and reduce fugitive emissions below measurable limits.

LF Vent Pac assembly

Vent Rings

Vent rings seal at the low-pressure end of the packing assembly to ensure that gas leakage is forced out of the vent connection rather than down the rod and into the distance piece. Cook Compression has long set the standard for effective vent ring performance in environmentally sensitive applications.

Featured Design: LF Vent Pac

LF Purge Pac assembly

Purge/Buffer Rings

Purge/buffer rings allow the use of an inert gas (usually nitrogen) barrier for added protection against emissions. By side loading seal rings in opposite directions, Cook Compression purge/buffer rings provide a virtually leak-free chamber for the purge or buffer medium.

Featured Design:  LF Purge Pac

Pressure breaker ring for reciprocating compressor packing

Pressure Breakers

Pressure breakers act as an orifice to regulate gas flow. Their primary function is to slow the backflow of gas on the suction stroke to avoid damaging rings and disengaging them from the rod. Pressure breakers also reduce gas flow on the discharge stroke, decreasing the effective pressure on the remaining packing rings.

Superior Material Performance

Cook Compression applies the latest advances in polymer science to provide superior durability and optimum performance characteristics for rod packing rings.

A wide range of proprietary PTFE- and PEEK-based materials, as well as specialty PPS and polyimide materials, are available to fit the specific requirements of your application and operating environment.

With in-house precision blending capabilities, Cook Compression uses reinforcements, fillers and additives to enhance specific material properties and deliver high-performance sealing and lasting reliability.

TruTech® Engineered Polymers

Cook Compression Advantage

Cook Compression sealing technologies