National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 18183:2026.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee MCE/6, Pumps and pump testing.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 October 2026.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 14 September 2026.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN 18183:2026) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 197 “Pumps”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by April 2027, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by April 2027.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN-CENELEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN and CENELEC websites.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Introduction

This document was originally drafted by a joint Technical Task Force of the Packings Division of the European Sealing Association (ESA) and the Compression Packing Division of the Fluid Sealing Association and is approved by both organisations as a suitable reference for the packing types described.

Certain of the packings contain polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which, when heated to elevated temperatures, can produce fumes which give unpleasant effects if inhaled. Care should be taken to avoid contamination of tobacco products with PTFE.

1 Scope

This document provides a method of describing the materials, impregnates and lubricants for various types of yarn and ribbon based packings intended for use as gland seals in mechanical equipment such as pumps, mixers, etc. This document is intended to serve as a guide for packing manufacturers, pump OEM’s and end users. It does not include similar products intended for other duties such as thermal insulation.

Guidance is also given regarding dimensional and physical quality aspects of the packings and requirements for packaging and marking.

Tests are specified for the determination of lubricant content, size and mass.

NOTE 1 The information supplied by the purchaser at the time of enquiry and/or order is given in Annex B.

NOTE 2 All packings are free from introduced asbestos fibres in conformance with Annex XVII of REACH.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Packing types

4.1 Description

4.2 Coding system

4.3 Coding system example

4.4 Elastomeric cored packings

5 Packing construction

6 Shape and cross-section

7 Size

8 Physical quality

9 Packaging

10 Marking

11 Quality of materials

11.1 Yarns

11.2 Packings

Bibliography