Energy Management of Low-Pressure Systems Utilizing Pump-Unloading Valve and Accumulator

Patrick M. Stump, Nathan Keller and Andrea Vacca
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Patrick M. Stump: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Nathan Keller: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Andrea Vacca: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: In the context of improving energy efficiency and fuel consumption of mobile hydraulic equipment, it is important to analyze all the sources of power loss occurring within the hydraulic systems. While plenty of analyses have been performed on the working implements and the main transmission systems, very little attention has been paid to low-pressure (LP) systems until recently. LP systems are required on closed-circuit hydraulic systems to replenish losses, provide cooling flow, and maintain a pilot pressure necessary to operate hydraulic control valves and variable displacement units. It is shown that these circuits, which are often thought to have minimal impact on power consumption, actually cause significant, continuous power loss. A new method of power savings in these circuits is investigated through management of charge pump flow by application of an accumulator-sense pump-unloading (ASPU) valve. This work further proposes the combination of a split LP architecture with an ASPU valve. Three systems are simulated using Simcenter Amesim ® and MATLAB/Simulink ® . Using realistic duty cycles and unit loss models on a circuit for mobile off-road hydraulic equipment, it is shown that a standard LP system can consume about 5 kW of power. Power savings of up to 65% over a standard LP system are demonstrated by the proposed architecture.

Keywords: low pressure system; accumulator; unloading valve; energy efficiency; charge pump; fluid power; power loss; hydraulics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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