BOOK2,CHAPTER1:HydraulicAccumulators(part1)

Hydraulics&Pneumatics
Table of Contents

Jun26,2007
What is in this article?:
BOOK 2, CHAPTER 1: Hydraulic

Hydraulicaccumulatorsmakeitpossibletostoreuseablevolumesofnon
Accumulators (part 1)
compressiblefluidunderpressure.A5galcontainercompletelyfullofoilat
Full-time pressure with fixed-volume
2000psiwillonlydischargeafewcubicinchesoffluidbeforepressuredrops pumps
to0psi.Thesamecontainerfilledwithhalfoilandhalfnitrogengaswould
dischargeover1galoffluidbeforepressuredroppedto1000psi.
Figures11through14showsymbolsusedfordifferenttypesofaccumulators.Figures15through18are
simplifiedcutawaysshowingconstructionofdifferenttypesofaccumulators.
Whenusinganaccumulator,itisnecessarytoinstallamanualor
automaticfunctiontodepressurizeallfluidbeforeworkingonthe
circuit.Severalmanufacturersmakeautomaticdischargevalvesthat
workwell.Theseautomaticdischargevalvesareexplainedattheend
ofthissection.

Mosthydraulicaccumulatorsareusedinoneoffour
applications:
1.Supplementpumpflowincircuitswithmediumtolongdelays
betweencycles.
2.Holdpressureinacylinderwhilethepumpisunloadingor
stopped.
3.Haveareadysupplyofpressurizedfluidincaseofpower
failure.
4.Reduceshockinhighvelocityflowlinesorattheoutletof
pulsatingpistonpumps.

Fig.11to18.Allaccumulatorsexcepttheweight
loadedversionwillundergoapressuredecreaseas
fluiddischarges.Aweightloadedaccumulator
maintainspressureuntilallfluidisexpelled.Clickon
imageforlargerview.

Thefollowingcircuitimagesshowsomecircuitsusingaccumulatorsfortheoperationsmentionedin1to4above.
Otheraccumulatorcircuitsandinformationfollow.

Usingaccumulatorstosupplementpumpflow
Somehydrauliccircuitsrequirealargevolumeofoilforashorttimeforexampletomovealargecylinder
rapidlytoclampapart.Afterclamping,thecircuitneedslittleornoadditionalfluidforperiodoftimewhile
curingtakesplace.Whenacircuithasextendeddwelltime,anaccumulatorcanbeusedtodownsizethepump,
motor,tank,andreliefvalve.Thecostofaccumulatorsusuallyoffsetssavingsonthesesmallercomponents,but
downsizingsavesonoperatingcosts.
Theconventionalpump,directionalvalve,andcylinderpicturedin
Figure19showhorsepowerandflowrequirementsneededfora
12.5seccycletime.Theadvancecyclerequiresfullpower,while
returningthecylinderneedsminimalforce.Reductionofthepump
andmotorsizeisnotpossibleifthecylindercyclesrapidly.However,
iftherewasa45secwaitbetweencycles,thepumpandmotorcould

bealmost70%smallerwithanaccumulatorcircuit.

Thisreducedflowandhorsepowerarepossiblewhenusing
accumulatorsandthecircuitshowninFigure110.Theextra
expenseoftheaccumulatorsoffsetsthereducedpriceforthe
powerunit,butoperatingcostislessforthelifeofthemachine.
Thedirectionalvalveandpipingfromtheaccumulatorstothe
cylinderstillhastohandlethe125gpmflow.
Usingagaschargedaccumulatorinapumpsupplementing
circuitwillincreasemaximumsystempressure.Theextend
portionofthecycleneedsatleast2000psiworkingpressure,
whichrequiresfillingtheaccumulatorswithfluidabove2000
psisotheycandischargeoilandnotdropbelowminimum
pressure.Themaximumsystempressureshouldbeashighas
canbetolerated.Thehigherthemaximumallowablesystem
pressure,thesmallertheaccumulators.Thedrawbackofhigh
pressureisthatthecircuitisatthispressurewhenthecycle
starts.Ifthishigherpressurecancausedamageorother
problems,itshouldbeloweredtoasafelevel.

Figure19.

Accumulatorcircuitsnormallyhaveflowcontrolsbecausethereisavolumeofoilatelevatedpressurethatcan
dischargealmostinstantaneously.Placingaflowcontrolattheaccumulatoroutletallowsfreeflowfrompumpto
accumulatorandadjustableflowtosystem.
ThecircuitinFigure110hasaminimumpressureof2000psianda
maximumpressureof3000psi.Thispressureisthelimitofmost
hydrauliccomponents.A22gpmpumpdrivenbya40hpmotornow
meetstheforceandcycletimespecified.Allpumpflowcontinuously
goestothecircuitinsteadofbeingunloadedmostofthetimeasin
conventionalcircuits.

Asthecylindercycles,theaccumulatorssupplyfluidatarateset
bytheflowcontrol.Pumpflowaddstoaccumulatorflowtoset
therequiredcycletime.Cylindercyclingcouldbemadefaster
thanspecifiedbyincreasingoutletflowfromtheaccumulator.
ThefixedvolumepumpinFigure110unloadsthrougha
specialaccumulatorrelief/unload/dumpvalve,whichsendsall
pumpflowtotheaccumulatorsandcylinderuntilthesystem
reachessetpressure.Afterreachingsetpressure,thevalveopens
andunloadsthepumptotankatapproximately50psi.The
pumpwillcontinuetounloaduntilthesystempressuredrops
about15%.Thispressuredropmightbefromleakageoratthe
startofanewcycle.Anytimepressuredrops,thepumpwillload
andstayloadeduntilpressuretriestogoabove3000psi.With

Figure110.Clickonimageforlargerview.

thisvalve,storedoilintheaccumulatorsautomaticallydischargestotankwhenthepumpstops,whichmakes
thecircuitsafetoworkonshortlyafterlockingandtaggingoffthepump.
Figure111showsavariationoftheaccumulatorcircuitinFigure110.
Herea1gpmfixedvolumepumpanda5gpmpressurecompensated
pumpsupplyoiluntiltheaccumulatorsfill.Apressureswitch,setat
about2900psi,unloadsthefixedvolumepumpthroughasolenoid
operatedreliefvalve.Afterthefixedvolumepumpunloads,the
pressurecompensatedpumpfinishesfillingtheaccumulatorsand
holdsmaximumpressurewithoutfluctuationsandwithminimal
heating.

Figure111.Clickonimageforlargerview.

Theaccumulatordumpvalveinthiscircuitwillstayclosedas
longasthepumpsarerunning.Whenthepumpsstop,thisvalve
quicklyandautomaticallydischargestheaccumulatorstotank.