Side Entry Agitator Mechanical Seal

Sealing a Horizontal Entry Point Under Full Liquid Head

Side entry mixing puts the seal in a position neither top nor bottom entry designs deal with — mounted horizontally through the tank's side wall, typically well below the liquid surface, where it has to hold against the full static head of a large storage tank rather than the more contained pressure conditions of a reactor vessel. That submerged, horizontal orientation is common on large crude oil, wastewater, and bulk storage tanks where a side-mounted propeller drive covers a wide mixing radius more efficiently than a shaft dropped from above. Fitting one involves securing the seal housing through the tank's side nozzle, aligning the horizontal shaft to the propeller drive outside, and confirming the seal holds against the tank's static liquid pressure before the system is brought back into service. For complete step-by-step installation instructions and torque specifications, refer to our detailed installation guide on the blog.