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HOME > TECHNOLOGIES > OTHER TECHNOLOGIES > CHAPTER 6: HYDRAULIC RESERVOIRS
CHAPTER6:Hydraulicreservoirs
BudTrinkel|Hydraulics&Pneumatics
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Oct31,2006
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For more on hydraulic reservoirs, read our Basics
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QUIZonChapter6
Whatisinthisarticle?:
CHAPTER 6: Hydraulic reservoirs
Table of Contents
Pump connections
Answers to Quiz 6
Heat exchangers
Fluidpowerreservoirs
Fluidpowersystemsrequireairoraliquidfluidtotransmitenergy.Pneumatic
systemsusetheatmospheretheairwebreatheasthesourceorreservoirfortheir
fluid.Acompressortakesinatmosphericairat14.7psia,compressesittobetween90and
125psig,andthenstoresitinareceivertank.Areceivertankissimilartoahydraulic
systemsaccumulator.Areceivertank,Figure61,storesenergyforfutureusesimilarto
ahydraulicaccumulator.Thisispossiblebecauseairisagasandthusiscompressible.A
receivertankisapressurevesselandisconstructedtopressurevesselstandards.Atthe
endoftheworkcycletheairissimplyreturnedtotheatmosphere.
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Figure61.Simplepneumaticpowerunit.
Hydraulicreservoirs
Hydraulicsystems,ontheotherhand,needafiniteamountofliquidfluidthatmustbe
storedandreusedcontinuallyasthecircuitworks.Therefore,partofanyhydrauliccircuit
isastoragereservoirortank.Thistankmaybepartofthemachineframeworkora
separatestandaloneunit.Ineithercase,reservoirdesignandimplementationisvery
important.Theefficiencyofawelldesignedhydrauliccircuitcanbegreatlyreducedby
poortankdesign.Ahydraulicreservoirdoesmuchmorethanjustprovideaplacetoput
fluid.Awelldesignedreservoiralsodissipatesheat,allowstimeforcontaminationtodrop
outofthefluid,andallowsairbubblestocometothesurfaceanddissipate.Itmaygivea
positivepressuretothepumpinletandmakesaconvenientmountingplaceforthepump
anditsmotor,andvalves.
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QuizonChapter6:Hydraulicreservoirs
CHAPTER7:AirandHydraulicFilters,AirDryersandLubricators
CHAPTER8:AirandHydraulicPumps(part1)
Somestandardreservoirlayouts
Pumpontop.Figure62
showsthiscommon
reservoir/pumplayout
usedbymanysuppliers.The
flattopsurfaceofastandard
reservoirmakesaperfect
placetomountthepump
andmotor.
Themaindisadvantageto
thisconfigurationisthatthe
pumpmustcreateenough
vacuumtoraiseand
Figure62.Pumpandmotormountedontopoftank.
acceleratethefluidintothe
pumpinlet.Formostpumps,thisisnotabigproblem,butitisnotthebestsituationfor
anyofthem.Axialorinlinepistonpumplifecanbeadverselyaffectedbymediumto
highvacuumatitsinletwhenusingthislayout.Thepipinginthisconfigurationmustbe
sealed,shouldbeasshortaspossible,andhavefewornobends.
Pumpalongsidetank.Figure63showsanotherdesignthatissatisfactoryforany
typepump.(Manysupplierspreferthislayout.)Thisarrangementissometimecalleda
floodedsuction,becausethepumpinletalwaysisfilledwithfluid.
Figure63.Pumpandmotormountedalongsidetank.
Althoughthepumpinletalwayshasfluid,therewillbesomevacuumintheinletline
whenthepumpisrunning.Apumpwithitsinletbelowfluidlevelnolongerhastoraise
thefluid,butitdoeshavetoaccelerateandmoveit.However,thisdesignisfarbetter
thanthepumpontopandcanextendtheservicelifeofanytypepump.
Noticetheshutoffvalveintheinletline.Thisvalveallowsmaintenanceworktobedone
onthepumpwithoutdrainingthetank.Someprecautions:installafreeflowingvalve
(suchasaquarterturnballtype)anduseavalvewithalimitswitchtoindicatefullopen.
Wirethislimitswitchinparallelwiththepumpmotorstarter,sothepumpcannotstart
untiltheshutoffvalveisopen.
Pumpundertank.Figure64showstheverybestpump/tanklayout.Thisdesign
putsthepumpbelowthereservoirtotakeadvantageofstaticheadpressure.Asexplained
inChapter1,thereispressureatthebottomofanycolumnoffluid(about.4psiperfoot
ofelevation).Withthetankabove,thepumpnotonlyhasfluidatitsinletallthetime,but
thisfluidalsocouldbeat2to4psipositivepressure.(Notethatthisarrangementcanbe
difficulttoworkonwithout
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ampleheadroomforthe
mechanic.)Thesameshutoff
valveprecautiongoesforthis
layoutasmentionedforthe
pumpalongsidedesign.
Tankfunctions
Themainreasonthe
reservoirexistsistostore
fluid.Theacceptedrulefor
sizingatankis:thetank
volumeshouldbetwotofour
timesthepumpflowingpm.
Thisisonlyageneralrule.
Figure64.Tanklocatedabovepumpandmotor.
Somecircuitsmayrequire
morevolume,whilelessfluid
maybeadequateforothercircuits.A25gpmpumpwouldworkwellwitha50to75
gallonreservoirformostcircuits.Withthisgeneralrule,thereturnedfluidtheoretically
willhavetwotothreeminutesinthetankbeforeitcirculatesagain.AsFigure65
shows,abaffleseparatesthereturnlinefromthepumpinletline,forcingthefluidtotake
thelongestpossiblepaththroughthereservoirbeforereturningtothepumpinlet.This
arrangementalsomixesthefluidwellandprovidesmoretimetodropcontaminatesand
deaerate.Inaddition,thefluidspendsmoretimeincontactwiththeouterwallsofthe
reservoirtodissipateheat.
Figure65.Standardfeaturesofnonpressurizedreservoirdesigned
forpumptobemountedontop.
Whenacircuithassingleactingcylindersorcylinderswithlargerods,thevolumeoffluid
returnedontheextendstrokeisgreatlyreducedorevennonexistent.Inthesecases,
thetankmustbelargerthanthegeneralrulestatestokeepfluidlevelfromfallingbelow
thepumpinletline.
Anothersituationwhereatankmayneedtobelargerisifthecircuithasaccumulators.
Accumulatorsneedfluidtofillthematstartupandspaceintowhichtodischargethis
fluidatshutdown.Anundersizedreservoirmaynothaveenoughfluidtokeepthepump
inletcoveredatalltimes.
Anothercaseformakingthetanklargerthanthegeneralruleistoaddcoolingcapacity.
Allofthetanksexteriorwallscanradiateheattotheatmosphere,sothelargerthetank
thegreatertheheatdissipation.UsetheformulainFigure66tofiguretankcooling
capacity.Anexampleproblemisshownlaterinthischapter.Severaldatabooksinclude
formulasandchartsshowingtankcoolingcapacity.Thesealsocanbeusedin
conjunctionwiththismanual.
Heatdissipationisthemainreasonforhavingthetankbottomoffthefloorandwhyitis
importantnottostopfreeairflowaroundthetank.Itisnotgoodpracticetoenclosea
powerunittoreducenoise.
Tankcomponents
Thefillerbreathercapshouldincludeafiltermediatoblockcontaminantsasthefluid
levellowersandrisesduringacycle.Ifthecapisusedforfilling,itshouldhaveafilter
screeninitsnecktokeeplargeparticlesout.Itisbesttoprefilteranyfluidenteringthe
tank...eitherbyafiltercarttransferunitorbyafilterfillunit(asshowninChapter2,
Figure22.)
Removethedrainplugtoemptythetankwhenthefluidneedsbechanged.Atthesame
time,thecleanoutcoversshouldberemovedtoprovideaccesstocleanoutallresidue,
rust,andflakingpaintthatmayhaveaccumulatedinthetank(anddoesntflowoutwith
thefluid).Ifthisisnotdone,thenewfluidgetsdirtyimmediatelydefeatingthe
purposeofthefluidchange.InthedesigninFigure65,thecleanoutcoversandinternal
baffleareassembledtogether,withsomebracketstokeepthebaffleupright.Rubber
gasketssealthecleanoutcoverstopreventleaks.
Ifthesystemisbadlycontaminated,itiswisetoflushallpipesandactuatorswhile
changingthetankfluid.Thiscanbedonesatisfactorilybydisconnectingthereturnline
andplacingitsendinadrum,thencyclingthemachine.Donotoverfillthedrumduring
thisoperationoritmayruptureandspillfluid.
Sightglassesmakeiteasytovisuallycheckfluidlevel.Calibratedsightgaugesprovide
evenmoreaccuracy.Ifthesightglassorgaugeisdifficulttoseeorisdamaged,find
anotherwaytocheckthefluidlevel.
Manysightgaugesincludeafluidtemperaturegauge.Tanksthatfeelhottothetouch
mayactuallybewithinoperatingrange.Thetemperaturegaugegivesamorespecific
indication.Onoldersystemswherethetemperaturegaugemayhavestoppedworking,its
besttocheckfluidtemperaturewithsomeothermethod.
Pumpconnections
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