The problem of vaporization in face seals operating on mixtures where the minority liquid is discontinuous and has the lower boiling point is analyzed. A model based on several simplifications is presented and used to solve a numerical example for water-in-oil mixtures. It is shown that even the smallest amount (in the order of 1 %) of water in the oil may considerably alter the seal performance and result in seal failure.Presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri May 18–22, 1997