
BCD - Advanced Sealing Technology
What is BCD?
Packing rings seal the piston rod of a double-acting cylinder to avoid gas leaks and fugitive emissions. HOERBIGER Advanced Sealing Technology (BCD) is a slim, one-ring design that combines the principles of a radial ring and a tangential ring. BCD rings offer improved sealing efficiency and longer life. They create less frictional heat and so run cooler; this significantly extends ring life.
HOERBIGER BCD sealing rings are suitable for applications in the natural gas industry and in the petrochemical industry, especially for handling technical gases. The robust sealing elements are also used in the food and packaging industries, for example in industrial air compression for PET bottle production and in plants with combined heat and power generation.
HOERBIGER BCD sealing rings are suitable for applications in the natural gas industry and in the petrochemical industry, especially for handling technical gases. The robust sealing elements are also used in the food and packaging industries, for example in industrial air compression for PET bottle production and in plants with combined heat and power generation.
How does BCD Packing Ring work?
The BCD ring seals the piston rod to prevent gas leaks and fugitive emissions. The Advanced Sealing Technology (BCD) uses a pressure equalization groove to reduce contact pressure. Combining two rings into one eliminates the disadvantages and reliability issues associated with conventional two-ring designs. Main segments seal the piston rod and form a gap to compensate for wear. Cap segments provide sealing in both axial and radial directions. This special design ensures pressure equalization and guarantees high efficiency over the entire service life. The narrow design reduces friction and thus heat generation. In addition, the seal is shorter than conventional pressure packings.

Benefits at a glance
The patented segmented sealing ring for piston rods is designed for long, maintenance-free operation with the lowest leakage rate. It reduces the contact force on the tread, which in turn reduces frictional heat generation. It therefore runs at a lower temperature, which reduces wear and increases service life.
Due to the lower friction, the power losses of the packing are reduced by up to 50%, which also means that the piston runs cooler and longer.
The BCD design exhibits highest sealing efficiency, with 70% leakage reduction over traditional radial/tangent rings (fugitive emissions). This helps operators meet stringent emission standards and save gas.
Enables compliance with stringent emission standards and helps save gas
- Extension of service life
- Very short overall length
- Significantly low gas leakage
- Highest quality standards in manufacturing and leak testing
- Piston rod diameter
- 20 mm (0.78 inches) to 140 mm (5.51 inches)
- Pressure range
- 3 – 250 bar
- Available material grades
- All HY material grades available
- Fields of application (extract):
- Process gas
- Refining, Petrochemical industry, Chemical industry
- Oil and gas
- Gas lift and re-injection, Gas storage, LNG Terminal, Gas gathering, Gas transportation, CNG
- Industrial gases
- Syngas (Hydrogen, Carbon Oxide), Air separation (Oxygen, Nitrogen), Specific gases (Argon, Helium,…)
- Food industry
- PET bottle-blowing, Industrial air
- Power generation
- Cogeneration, Combined heat and power plant, Biogas

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